Bill Lomas, who produced the Hollywood Christmas Parade for 42 years, died Friday of cancer at his home in Lakewood, California, publicist Steve Moyer announced. He was 88.
Nicknamed “The Parade King,” Lomas headed Pageantry Productions and produced thousands of parades locally and throughout the state of California beginning in 1966. He also organized Irish fairs and Celtic music festivals around the Southland as well as events in Hawaii and Arizona.
Lomas guided the Hollywood Christmas Parade through 2023; he was ill but determined to work last year’s event, Moyer said. The parade, first held in 1928, runs on the Sunday after Thanksgiving over a three-mile route and is televised.
He and his late second wife, Ronnie, “live and breathe parades,” director Larry Harman told the Los Angeles Times in 1991. “They are a unique couple. Whatever you want, they’ll get it, whether it is a camel, an elephant, anything. They’re your one-stop shopping for parades.
Nicknamed “The Parade King,” Lomas headed Pageantry Productions and produced thousands of parades locally and throughout the state of California beginning in 1966. He also organized Irish fairs and Celtic music festivals around the Southland as well as events in Hawaii and Arizona.
Lomas guided the Hollywood Christmas Parade through 2023; he was ill but determined to work last year’s event, Moyer said. The parade, first held in 1928, runs on the Sunday after Thanksgiving over a three-mile route and is televised.
He and his late second wife, Ronnie, “live and breathe parades,” director Larry Harman told the Los Angeles Times in 1991. “They are a unique couple. Whatever you want, they’ll get it, whether it is a camel, an elephant, anything. They’re your one-stop shopping for parades.
- 3/25/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
If you didn’t grow up in Pittsburgh (which boasted rival baseball greats the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords) or watch Episode 5 of the 1994 Ken Burns docu-series “Baseball,” you may not know much about the Negro Leagues. That’s about to change.
Sam Pollard’s “The League” is an eye-opening slice of American baseball’s 154-year history. In fact, the recent rule changes imposed on the Majors by Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred were inspired in part by the practices of the Negro Leagues: while Babe Ruth focused on home runs (like many players today), these extraordinary Black athletes favored a fast, hit-and-run, base-stealing game.
“If you watch footage of Jackie Robinson from the ’40s and the ’50s, his style of play, his aggressiveness, all came from the Negro Leagues,” Oscar-nominated documentary director Pollard told IndieWire during a recent interview. “If you watch the players who integrated Major League Baseball,...
Sam Pollard’s “The League” is an eye-opening slice of American baseball’s 154-year history. In fact, the recent rule changes imposed on the Majors by Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred were inspired in part by the practices of the Negro Leagues: while Babe Ruth focused on home runs (like many players today), these extraordinary Black athletes favored a fast, hit-and-run, base-stealing game.
“If you watch footage of Jackie Robinson from the ’40s and the ’50s, his style of play, his aggressiveness, all came from the Negro Leagues,” Oscar-nominated documentary director Pollard told IndieWire during a recent interview. “If you watch the players who integrated Major League Baseball,...
- 7/13/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Maury Wills, whose long tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers began the year after the team moved to the West Coast in the late 1950s and included three World Series championships, died September 19 at his home in Sedona, Az, the team said Tuesday. He was 89.
Wills, a five-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove-winning shortstop, was a prolific base-stealer credited with helping to bring the craft back to baseball as an offensive strategy. After stealing 50 bases in 1960 in his first year with the Dodgers, in 1962 he became the first player in the modern age to reach 100 steals in a season, finishing with 104 to break Ty Cobb’s record that had stood for 47 years, earning him the Nl Mvp Award. He is 20th on baseball’s all-time steals list.
Hollywood & Media Deaths 2022: A Photo Gallery
Wills was born Maurice Morning Wills on October 2, 1932, in Washington D.C., where he was a three-sport athlete in high school.
Wills, a five-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove-winning shortstop, was a prolific base-stealer credited with helping to bring the craft back to baseball as an offensive strategy. After stealing 50 bases in 1960 in his first year with the Dodgers, in 1962 he became the first player in the modern age to reach 100 steals in a season, finishing with 104 to break Ty Cobb’s record that had stood for 47 years, earning him the Nl Mvp Award. He is 20th on baseball’s all-time steals list.
Hollywood & Media Deaths 2022: A Photo Gallery
Wills was born Maurice Morning Wills on October 2, 1932, in Washington D.C., where he was a three-sport athlete in high school.
- 9/20/2022
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Vin Scully, the longtime Dodgers play-by-play announcer considered by many to be the king of his profession, died Tuesday. He was 94.
The Los Angeles Dodgers confirmed Scully’s death through its official social media.
“He was the voice of the Dodgers, and so much more,” the organization wrote. “He was their conscience, their poet laureate, capturing their beauty and chronicling their glory from Jackie Robinson to Sandy Koufax, Kirk Gibson to Clayton Kershaw. Vin Scully was the heartbeat of the Dodgers — and in so many ways, the heartbeat of all of Los Angeles.”
pic.twitter.com/FloR9dBhZj
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 3, 2022
Also for years a national announcer of baseball for NBC, football and golf for CBS and baseball for CBS Radio, Scully endeared himself to fans through 67 seasons with the Dodgers, a record for one broadcaster with one team in any sport. In 2010, the American Sportscasters Assn. named...
The Los Angeles Dodgers confirmed Scully’s death through its official social media.
“He was the voice of the Dodgers, and so much more,” the organization wrote. “He was their conscience, their poet laureate, capturing their beauty and chronicling their glory from Jackie Robinson to Sandy Koufax, Kirk Gibson to Clayton Kershaw. Vin Scully was the heartbeat of the Dodgers — and in so many ways, the heartbeat of all of Los Angeles.”
pic.twitter.com/FloR9dBhZj
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 3, 2022
Also for years a national announcer of baseball for NBC, football and golf for CBS and baseball for CBS Radio, Scully endeared himself to fans through 67 seasons with the Dodgers, a record for one broadcaster with one team in any sport. In 2010, the American Sportscasters Assn. named...
- 8/3/2022
- by Jon Weisman
- Variety Film + TV
Five years ago, “The Sandlot” director David Mickey Evans and stars Chauncey Leopardi and Patrick Renna watched the Boston Red Sox take batting practice. When they stepped onto the field, David Ortiz, Big Papi himself, ran over to them, gave them all a big bear hug and said, “You guys are my heroes.”
Now upon its 25th anniversary, “The Sandlot” is still being embraced by a new generation of players. This spring training, it was the Milwaukee Brewers who celebrated the ’90s cult classic, reenacting a famous scene from the film.
“I don’t know how many people sent me that clip,” Evans told TheWrap. “How many other professional sports teams, hockey, football, basketball, have ever gotten together to re-enact a scene from a famous hockey, football or basketball film? I don’t know, but I would venture a guess none.”
“Every time I see an athlete mention ‘The Sandlot,’ it’s cool to know that at some point in these guys’ lives, they related to the film for whatever reason. It’s still nostalgic for them,” Leopardi told TheWrap. “We kind of shaped their… Well, I don’t want to take full credit for why they play the game, but it’s clearly enough of a part for them to want to grow up and be pinnacle of the league.”
Also Read: 'The Simpsons' Oral History of 'Last Exit to Springfield,' The Best Episode Ever
Released on April 7, 1993, “The Sandlot” has since cemented its place in film history as the quintessential kids sports movie. A group of kids in a small town spend their summer bumming around a rundown old baseball diamond they’ve christened The Sandlot. They welcome a new, dorky and naïve kid nicknamed Smalls into their mix, and he gets himself in “the biggest pickle” when he smashes a baseball signed by Babe Ruth over a fence into a backyard guarded by a monstrous attack dog known as The Beast.
It’s a charming story with instantly memorable faces and dozens of quotable lines (“You’re killing me Smalls!), and though the film only made a modest $32 million in its theatrical run, Evans and Leopardi started noticing the film gaining popularity around the time of its release on DVD in 2002.
“When the DVD hit, it just took off. It’s never slowed down,” Evans said. “That’s when I noticed it. This film is not going away. It’s here forever.”
Also Read: 15 Highest-Grossing Baseball Films of All Time
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Now a 25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition of the film is available on Blu-Ray, complete with Topps baseball cards for each kid in the movie. But for years, fans would show up at events for the film adorned with memorabilia, including tattoos of Ham, Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez and of Leopardi’s character Squints.
“There’s a Squints portrait on some dude’s ass,” Leopardi said. “There’s somebody out there sitting on my face.”
“The Sandlot” is set in 1962 but, to many fans, feels timeless, a perfect, idyllic relic of Anytown, USA. It may seem like an adaptation of a classic grade school novel, but Evans came up with the story himself after his younger brother was bitten by a particularly nasty dog named Hercules (the same name as in the movie) while he was trying to retrieve a lost baseball.
Also Read: Chicago Cubs' 'Bryzzo' Taps Eddie Vedder for Cute Mlb Promo (Video)
“That was not my childhood,” Evans said. “The idea that things are bigger than life, like that dog being six feet tall, that childhood imagination sort of aspect, that rings true for me. But having lots of friends, my little brother and I didn’t have that sort of thing. For me, the movie is a version of the way I wish my childhood would’ve been.”
Evans explained “The Sandlot” was set in 1962 because of a subplot that was eventually cut from the film: In 1962, Dodgers great Maury Wills chased down the stolen base record by swiping 104 bags in a single season. Squints would listen to Dodgers games on the radio, and every time Wills would steal a base, Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez would try and do the same. When Benny later gets a pack of Topps baseball cards that are all of Maury Wills, he’s inspired to become a ball player.
Evans said that audiences have either seen themselves in one of the many memorable faces in The Sandlot or wished they were one of them. And as a film about embracing legends (“Heroes get remembered, but legends never die), as Leopardi’s character Squints might say, it’s now become a movie that could live — as Squints famously recites in the film — “for-ev-ver, forrr-evv-verrrr.”
“That’s kind of what the story is about too,” Leopardi said. “It’s about these kids who weren’t supposed to make it there and watched Benny grow up to be a star. That’s the American dream.”
Read original story ‘The Sandlot’ at 25: Why the ’90s Cult Classic Will Live ‘For-Ev-Ver’ At TheWrap...
Now upon its 25th anniversary, “The Sandlot” is still being embraced by a new generation of players. This spring training, it was the Milwaukee Brewers who celebrated the ’90s cult classic, reenacting a famous scene from the film.
“I don’t know how many people sent me that clip,” Evans told TheWrap. “How many other professional sports teams, hockey, football, basketball, have ever gotten together to re-enact a scene from a famous hockey, football or basketball film? I don’t know, but I would venture a guess none.”
“Every time I see an athlete mention ‘The Sandlot,’ it’s cool to know that at some point in these guys’ lives, they related to the film for whatever reason. It’s still nostalgic for them,” Leopardi told TheWrap. “We kind of shaped their… Well, I don’t want to take full credit for why they play the game, but it’s clearly enough of a part for them to want to grow up and be pinnacle of the league.”
Also Read: 'The Simpsons' Oral History of 'Last Exit to Springfield,' The Best Episode Ever
Released on April 7, 1993, “The Sandlot” has since cemented its place in film history as the quintessential kids sports movie. A group of kids in a small town spend their summer bumming around a rundown old baseball diamond they’ve christened The Sandlot. They welcome a new, dorky and naïve kid nicknamed Smalls into their mix, and he gets himself in “the biggest pickle” when he smashes a baseball signed by Babe Ruth over a fence into a backyard guarded by a monstrous attack dog known as The Beast.
It’s a charming story with instantly memorable faces and dozens of quotable lines (“You’re killing me Smalls!), and though the film only made a modest $32 million in its theatrical run, Evans and Leopardi started noticing the film gaining popularity around the time of its release on DVD in 2002.
“When the DVD hit, it just took off. It’s never slowed down,” Evans said. “That’s when I noticed it. This film is not going away. It’s here forever.”
Also Read: 15 Highest-Grossing Baseball Films of All Time
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Now a 25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition of the film is available on Blu-Ray, complete with Topps baseball cards for each kid in the movie. But for years, fans would show up at events for the film adorned with memorabilia, including tattoos of Ham, Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez and of Leopardi’s character Squints.
“There’s a Squints portrait on some dude’s ass,” Leopardi said. “There’s somebody out there sitting on my face.”
“The Sandlot” is set in 1962 but, to many fans, feels timeless, a perfect, idyllic relic of Anytown, USA. It may seem like an adaptation of a classic grade school novel, but Evans came up with the story himself after his younger brother was bitten by a particularly nasty dog named Hercules (the same name as in the movie) while he was trying to retrieve a lost baseball.
Also Read: Chicago Cubs' 'Bryzzo' Taps Eddie Vedder for Cute Mlb Promo (Video)
“That was not my childhood,” Evans said. “The idea that things are bigger than life, like that dog being six feet tall, that childhood imagination sort of aspect, that rings true for me. But having lots of friends, my little brother and I didn’t have that sort of thing. For me, the movie is a version of the way I wish my childhood would’ve been.”
Evans explained “The Sandlot” was set in 1962 because of a subplot that was eventually cut from the film: In 1962, Dodgers great Maury Wills chased down the stolen base record by swiping 104 bags in a single season. Squints would listen to Dodgers games on the radio, and every time Wills would steal a base, Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez would try and do the same. When Benny later gets a pack of Topps baseball cards that are all of Maury Wills, he’s inspired to become a ball player.
Evans said that audiences have either seen themselves in one of the many memorable faces in The Sandlot or wished they were one of them. And as a film about embracing legends (“Heroes get remembered, but legends never die), as Leopardi’s character Squints might say, it’s now become a movie that could live — as Squints famously recites in the film — “for-ev-ver, forrr-evv-verrrr.”
“That’s kind of what the story is about too,” Leopardi said. “It’s about these kids who weren’t supposed to make it there and watched Benny grow up to be a star. That’s the American dream.”
Read original story ‘The Sandlot’ at 25: Why the ’90s Cult Classic Will Live ‘For-Ev-Ver’ At TheWrap...
- 4/5/2018
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
A host of celebrities will join Dodgers legend Steve Garvey for his special Celebrity Softball Classic and Family Fun Festival this Saturday.
The star will be joined by Nicollette Sheridan, Pete Rose (who will swing a bat again for the first time in decades), James Denton, Jose Canseco, Tillman the Skateboarding Bulldog, Sophie Monk, Michael Clarke Duncan, Carl Weathers, Greg Finley, Omar Miller, James Van Der Beek, Logan Huffman, Ron Cey, Maury Wills, Todd Zeile, Jay Johnstone Bill Russell, Jimmy Van Patten, Bobby Castillo, Kenny Landreaux, Lee Lacy, Rudy Law, Jerry Reuss, Derrel Thomas and others at the Eddy D. Stadium, Pepperdine University, Malibu, on July 10.
The event will raise money for the Als Association, an organization that aims to lead the fight to cure and treat Als through global, cutting-edge research, and to empower people with Lou Gehrig’s Disease and their families to live fuller lives by providing...
The star will be joined by Nicollette Sheridan, Pete Rose (who will swing a bat again for the first time in decades), James Denton, Jose Canseco, Tillman the Skateboarding Bulldog, Sophie Monk, Michael Clarke Duncan, Carl Weathers, Greg Finley, Omar Miller, James Van Der Beek, Logan Huffman, Ron Cey, Maury Wills, Todd Zeile, Jay Johnstone Bill Russell, Jimmy Van Patten, Bobby Castillo, Kenny Landreaux, Lee Lacy, Rudy Law, Jerry Reuss, Derrel Thomas and others at the Eddy D. Stadium, Pepperdine University, Malibu, on July 10.
The event will raise money for the Als Association, an organization that aims to lead the fight to cure and treat Als through global, cutting-edge research, and to empower people with Lou Gehrig’s Disease and their families to live fuller lives by providing...
- 7/7/2010
- Look to the Stars
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