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- Actor
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George C. Scott was an immensely talented actor, a star of the big screen, stage and television. He was born on October 18, 1927 in Wise, Virginia, to Helena Agnes (Slemp) and George Dewey Scott. At the age of eight, his mother died, and his father, an executive at Buick, raised him. In 1945, he joined the United States Marines and spent four years with them, no doubt an inspiration for portraying General George S. Patton years later. When Scott left the Marines, he enrolled in journalism classes at the University of Missouri, but it was while performing in a play there that the acting bug bit him. He has said it "clicked, just like tumblers in a safe."
It was in 1957 that he landed a role in "Richard III" in New York City. The play was a success and brought the young actor to the attention of critics. He soon began to get work on television, mostly in live broadcasts of plays, and he landed the role of the crafty prosecutor in Anatomy of a Murder (1959). It was this role that got him his first Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor.
However, George and Oscar wouldn't actually become the best of friends. In fact, he felt the whole process forced actors to become stars and that the ceremony was little more than a "meat market." In 1962, he was nominated again for Best Supporting Actor, this time opposite Paul Newman in The Hustler (1961), but sent a message saying "No, thanks" and refused the nomination.
However, whether he was being temperamental or simply stubborn in his opinion of awards, it did not seem to stop him from being nominated in the future. "Anatomy" and "The Hustler" were followed by the clever mystery The List of Adrian Messenger (1963), in which he starred alongside Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum and cameos by major stars of the time, including Burt Lancaster and Frank Sinatra. It's a must-see, directed by John Huston with tongue deeply in cheek.
The following year, Scott starred as General "Buck" Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's comical anti-war film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). This became one of his favorites and he often said that he felt guilty getting paid for it, as he had so much fun making it. Another comedy followed, The Flim-Flam Man (1967), with Scott playing a smooth-talking con artist who takes on an apprentice whom he soon discovers has too many morals.
Three years followed, with some smaller television movies, before he got the role for which he will always be identified: the aforementioned General Patton in Patton (1970). This was a war movie that came at the end of a decade where anti-war protests had rocked a nation and become a symbol of youth dissatisfied with what was expected of them. Still, the actor's portrayal of this aggressive military icon actually drew sympathy for the controversial hero. He won the Oscar this time, but stayed at home watching hockey instead.
A pair of films that he made in the early 1980s were outstanding. The first of these was The Changeling (1980), a film often packaged as a horror movie but one that's really more of a supernatural thriller. He plays John Russell, a composer and music professor who loses his wife and daughter in a tragic accident. Seeking solace, he moves into an archaic mansion that had been unoccupied for 12 years. However, a child-like presence seems to be sharing the house with him and trying to share its secrets with him. From learning of the house's past, he discovers its horrific secret of long ago, a secret that the presence will no longer allow to be kept.
Then he starred -- along with a young cast of then largely unknowns, including Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn and Tom Cruise -- in the intense drama Taps (1981). He played the head of a military academy that's suddenly slated for destruction when the property is sold to local developers who plan to build condos. The students take over the academy when they feel that the regular channels are closed to them.
Scott kept up in films, television and on stage in the later years of his life (Broadway dimmed its lights for one minute on the night of his death). Among his projects were playing Ebenezer Scrooge in a worthy television update of A Christmas Carol (1984), an acclaimed performance on Broadway of "Death of a Salesman", the voice of McLeach in Disney's The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and co-starring roles in television remakes of two classic films, 12 Angry Men (1997) and Inherit the Wind (1999), to name just a few. After his death the accolades poured in, with Jack Lemmon saying, "George was truly one of the greatest and most generous actors I have ever known," while Tony Randall called him "the greatest actor in American history".- The epitome of poise, charm, style and grace, beautiful brunette Barbara Rush was born in Denver, Colorado in 1927 and enrolled at the University of California before working with the University Players and taking acting classes at the Pasadena Playhouse. It didn't take long for talent scouts to spot her and, following a play performance, Paramount quickly signed her up in 1950, making her debut with The Goldbergs (1950).
Just prior to this, she had met fellow actor Jeffrey Hunter, a handsome newcomer who would later become a "beefcake" bobbysoxer idol over at Fox. The two fell in love and married in December 1950. Soon, they were on their way to becoming one of Hollywood's most beautiful and photogenic young couples. Their son Christopher was born in 1952.
While at Paramount, she was decorative in such assembly-line fare as When Worlds Collide (1951), Quebec (1951) and Flaming Feather (1952). She later co-starred opposite some of Hollywood's top leading males: James Mason, Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando, Dean Martin, Paul Newman, Richard Burton and Kirk Douglas. In most cases, she played brittle wives, conniving "other women" or socialite girlfriend types.
Despite the "A" list movies Barbara was piling up, the one single role that could put her over the top never showed its face. By the early 1960s, her film career started to decline. She married publicist Warren Cowan in 1959 and bore a second child, Claudia Cowan, in 1964. TV became a viable source of income for her, appearing in scores of guest parts on the more popular shows of the time while co-starring in standard mini-movie dramas.
She even had a bit of fun playing a "guest villainess" on the Batman (1966) series as temptress "Nora Clavicle". The stage also became a strong focus for Barbara, earning the Sarah Siddons Award for her starring role in "Forty Carats". She made her Broadway debut in the one-woman showcase "A Woman of Independent Means", which also subsequently earned her the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award during its tour. Other showcases included "Private Lives", "Same Time, Next Year", "The Night of the Iguana" and "Steel Magnolias". Rush continued to occasionally appear onscreen, most recently in a recurring role on TV's 7th Heaven (1996). She died on March 31, 2024, aged 97. - Kathryn is best known for her portrayals of "Karen McCluskey" on Desperate Housewives (2004) on ABC and of "Mrs. Landingham", secretary to the President (Martin Sheen), on the critically-acclaimed NBC drama, The West Wing (1999). She has also recurred on Dharma & Greg (1997), and guest-starred on many hit television series, such as Becker (1998), Arli$$ (1996), Ally McBeal (1997), Providence (1999), Scrubs (2001) and over twenty other prime-time shows. Kathryn will also be seen later this year on ABC's daytime drama, General Hospital (1963). Her credits are impressive for any actor, let alone one that only began the craft at age 42.
Although only put into action well into her middle years, Kathryn's dream began in her twenties, when her mother died of cancer in 1963. While dying in the hospital, her mother shared that her biggest regret was not following her dreams. Kathryn vowed, at that moment, that she would someday pursue her own dream of acting.
At the time, she was entering into a new career as a psychiatric nurse in a medium security wing for disturbed teenagers. Through that job, she met and married a psychiatrist, gave birth to two boys and settled down as a suburban housewife in Lake Forest, Illinois, a well-to-do suburb of Chicago. But Kathryn never forgot her dream of acting, something that she never had time to pursue in-between caring for her children and husband. In 1980, her husband's alcoholism led Kathryn to a divorce and a difficult situation; a single mother with two young sons. Rather than lose hope, she took the opportunity to change her life forever and follow her lost dream.
Kathryn took classes at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and performed at community theaters all over Northern Illinois. By day, she supported her family hanging wallpaper and painting the mansions of Lake Forest, working as a sales person for a Welcome Wagon company and using her contacts to book film and print locations in the houses she was painting. By night, Kathryn was improving her skills and moving from community theater to semi-professional theater. Her first break was in 1991. Disney held a cattle call for street performers for Disney World. After standing in line for five hours, Kathryn got the part and moved shop to Orlando, Florida. Though she was living behind an adult arcade in the "tourist unfriendly" part of Buena Vista, Kathryn was finally earning her living through performance and loving it. The part only lasted for a year and, once again, Kathryn was forced to supplement her acting income with other work -- bar-tending and catering during the day, theater at night. Though the acting gig was over, the move to Florida proved one thing to Kathryn...she had the talent to make it as an actor. She did it once and she could do it again. Unfortunately, it took her two and half years to realize it wouldn't happen in central Florida.
In December 1995, Kathryn again packed a truck and drove to Hollywood. Although she didn't have an agent and had no contacts, Kathryn never hesitated following her dream. In only five months, she landed her first part...two lines in Family Matters (1989). In the six years since then, she has appeared in over a dozen plays, six movies, eleven national television commercials, two pilots, ten drama series and over twenty sitcoms. From her many roles, Kathryn is recognized as one of Murphy Brown (1988)'s secretaries, Frasier (1993)'s agent's mother and the bingo buddy to Drew Carey's girlfriend, on The Drew Carey Show (1995). But it is her portrayal of "Mrs. Landingham", the foil, friend and secretary to Martin Sheen's "President Bartlet" on The West Wing (1999) that propelled her into the spotlight she truly deserves. She followed that up with her last huge roll as Karen McCluskey for 8 seasons on ABC's Desperate Housewives (2004), which won her two Emmy awards. Joosten made a guest appearance on CBS daytime soap The Bold and the Beautiful as part of the show's 6000th episode, which featured several other real-life lung cancer survivors discussing their experiences. She was named the national spokesperson for the Lung Cancer Profiles campaign on behalf of Pfizer. Joosten died of lung cancer on the morning of June 2, 2012. Her death happened 20 days after the onscreen death of her character Karen McCluskey on the final episode of Desperate Housewives. The hit show ended its eight-year run on ABC last month with a series finale in which Joosten's character passed away. Her character's battle with brain cancer was a story line in the show. - Actor
- Soundtrack
The television heartthrob from the 1960s and 1970s was the proverbial tall, dark and classically handsome actor. Completing the solid package was a great, muscular build, smooth charm, and an almost perfect set of teeth. Born in 1935 in Kansas City, Kansas, and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, he certainly paid his dues before landing his breakthrough as the suave announcer on The Carol Burnett Show (1967) in the late 1960s. The one-time door-to-door encyclopedia peddler, prior to his prime TV job, appeared in poorly-made sci-fi and beach party flicks with such dubious titles as Women of the Prehistoric Planet (1966), Swamp Country (1966), Journey to the Center of Time (1967) and Catalina Caper (1967). In time, he was more than just a gorgeous hunk with a resonant voice, and they began to incorporate Waggoner into the show as a comedy sketch partner along with Vicki Lawrence and Harvey Korman. His better scenes typically had him essaying the superficial cad or gleamy-toothed, self-important star. After seven seasons on the knockabout variety show, however, Waggoner felt like a "third banana" and yearned to take a chance on solo stardom. During his off-times, he had prepared himself by appearing in summer stock and/or dinner theater in such breezy assignments as "Boeing, Boeing", "Send Me No Flowers", and "Once More, with Feeling". He also hosted the syndicated quiz show It's Your Bet (1969), and earned added "exposure" as Playgirl Magazine's first semi-nude centerfold in 1973.
Not long after his departure from the Burnett show, he landed the role of Major Steve Trevor on the popular comic strip-based series Wonder Woman (1975), playing the dashing, no-nonsense boss to Diana Prince. Again, the challenge was not there and he remained on the periphery for three seasons. In later years, Waggoner became more personality than performer and only sporadically appeared in glossy mini-movies and TV episodes, occasionally as himself. He appeared in a few feature films (including Love Me Deadly (1972), Surf II (1983) and Wizards of the Demon Sword (1991)). Perhaps surmising he was undone by being too perfect a specimen, he wisely looked into business ventures. In 1979, he successfully started up "Star Waggons", which served film/TV companies with rental trailers. His charming, vainglorious romancer act was for the cameras only. He married only once, to Sharon Kennedy, an actress, financial consultant and realtor. They were married for 59 years and had two sons.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Quiet, soft-spoken Robert grew up in California and had some stage experience with the Pasadena Playhouse before entering films in 1931. His movie career consisted of playing characters who were charming, good-looking--and bland. In fact, his screen image was such that he usually never got the girl. Louis B. Mayer would say, "He has no sex appeal," but he had a work ethic that prepared him for every role that he played. And he did play in as many as eleven films per year for a decade starting with The Black Camel (1931). He was notable as the spy in Alfred Hitchcock's Secret Agent (1936), but the '40s was the decade in which he was to have most of his best roles. These included Northwest Passage (1940); Western Union (1941); and H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941). Good roles followed, from the husband of Dorothy McGuirein Claudia (1943) to the detective in Crossfire (1947), but they were becoming scarce. In 1949, Robert started a radio show called "Father Knows Best" wherein he played Jim Anderson, an average father with average situations--a role which was tailor-made for him. Basically retiring from films, he starred in this program for five years on radio before it went to television in 1954. After a slight falter in the ratings and a switch from CBS to NBC, it became a mainstay of television until it was canceled in 1960. He continued making guest appearances on various television shows and working in television movies. In 1969, he starred as Dr. Marcus Welby in the TV movie A Matter of Humanities (1969). The Marcus Welby series that followed ran from 1969 through 1976 and featured James Brolin as his assistant, Dr. Steven Kiley--the doc with the bike. After the series ended, Robert, now in his seventies, finally licked his 30-year battle with alcohol and occasionally appeared in television movies through the 1980s.- Actress
- Producer
Celeste Yarnall was an amazing woman of many talents who had been very successful in a diverse number of fields. There appeared to be nothing she couldn't do when she put her mind to it. Apart from her initial career as model, spokesperson and actress, Celeste has also managed several talented screenwriters, segued into the commercial real estate business, became a championship Tonkinese cat breeder, ran her own successful company, hosted a radio show, produced a "How to" video and regularly appears as a speaker/lecturer.
At a time when many people would be thinking of an easier life, Celeste studied for and received her Ph. D in nutrition in 1998 and served as adjunct professor of nutrition at the Pacific Western University. In addition, Celeste has written two best selling books: 'Natural Cat Care: A Complete Guide to Holistic Care for Cats' and 'Natural Dog Care: A Complete Guide to Holistic Care for Dogs.'
As a model and actress, Celeste was renowned for her beauty and very becoming figure, being named the Foreign Press' Most Photogenic Beauty of the Year at the Cannes Film Festival in 1968. She was also the National Association of Theater Owners Most Promising New Star of 1968. Celeste was featured as Miss April in Cedco Publishing's popular wall calendar for 2002. The April 2002 issue of 'Femme Fatale' magazine also features a detailed article about Celeste.
For Elvis Presley fans, Celeste is remembered as "Ellen," the beautiful young woman Elvis romanced with the song, "A Little Less Conversation," in the film, Live a Little, Love a Little (1968). As Elvis fans know, the track was re-mixed by progressive music producer/DJ Tom Holkenborg, and topped the charts around the world.
As one of the "swinging chicks of the 1960s," Celeste was not only interviewed by Thomas Lisanti for his fascinating book, "Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema (Interviews with Twenty Actresses from Biker, Beach and Elvis Movies)," but an eye-catching photograph of her was also used for the front cover. Celeste lived and based her health care practice for cats and dogs in Los Angeles and lived in her new home in Westlake Village.- Shelby Grant was born on 19 October 1936 in Orlando, Oklahoma, USA. She was an actress, known for Our Man Flint (1966), Burke's Law (1963) and Fantastic Voyage (1966). She was married to Chad Everett and Daniel Eugene Smith. She died on 25 June 2011 in Westlake Village, California, USA.
- Director
- Producer
- Actor
Bob Sweeney was born on 19 October 1918 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Hawaii Five-O (1968), Marnie (1964) and The Andros Targets (1977). He was married to Bev. He died on 7 June 1992 in Westlake Village, California, USA.- Virginia Bell was born on 14 August 1934 in Montrose, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Hollywood Funtime, Program 2 (1940), Bell, Bare and Beautiful (1963) and Scanty Panties (1961). She was married to Alexander White, Eli Jackson and Charles Merle Bell. She died on 18 July 2010 in Westlake Village, California, USA.
- A pretty brunette leading lady who had her heyday in the early days of television, she was born Muriel Florence Bendelson (nicknamed 'Midge') in New York's Bronx. Midge came to the screen after extensive work as a photographer's model, appearing in fashion ads and on the cover of more than a hundred popular magazines, including Esquire. In 1953, she was named "the girl with the trimmest torso" and selected from 5000 applicants as 'Miss No-Cal' to promote a high profile beverage company on billboards and in printed media (No-Cal specialised in producing carbonated, sugar-free, zero-calorie soft drinks). Midge had already been snapped up by Universal-International two years earlier and was cast in a few films, but her total screen time amounted to little more than background eye candy. Her sole featured performance for the studio was in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), a swashbuckler set in medieval Tangiers, now chiefly remembered for its star (Tony Curtis, as an Arabian prince) uttering the immortal line "Yonduh lies de castle of de caliph, my fadder" in his best Brooklynese accent. Much later, in the 60's, Midge had a rare leading role as an aspiring Broadway dancer in All Woman (1967), a little-seen drama in which a composer (Robert Alda) befriends and variously aids three women who consecutively reside in a neighbouring apartment.
Rather better served by television, Midge briefly enjoyed a higher screen profile as the spirited love interest of Tony Young's post-Civil War military intelligence operative in the off-beat CBS western series Gunslinger (1961). The premise did not catch on, however, and Gunslinger was cancelled after just 12 episodes. Midge then guested in a few TV shows of varying genres, ranging from The Virginian (1962) and The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) to Serpico (1976). Following her retirement from screen acting in 1980, she became strongly involved in community service. For her volunteer work at the Motion Picture and Television Retirement Community in Woodland Hills, California, she received The President's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. Midge was married three times. Two previous husbands included actor Arthur Batanides and writer/director David Moessinger. - Sally Mansfield was the daughter of Samuel Mahder (October 5, 1901 - April 14, 1970) and Marie (Strorigl) Mahder (October 24, 1900 - February 10, 1963) both born in Hungary. Sally studied at Chicago's Children's Summer Theater and the Sherwood Music School, and trod the boards under her birth name at Chicago's Gage Park High School (5630 Rockwell Street) in the school's stage presentation of "The Tailormade Man" on June 19th and 20th, 1941. At NBC Radio in New York, she was heard on daytime dramas and commercials, then joined the Don Arden Dancers there and in Las Vegas. She became a contract player for Paramount Pictures in 1951 and traveled to Korea to participate in troop shows. By 1954, she represented the television-industry award ceremonies as Miss Emmy. Her major role, however, is as Vena Ray, the navigator and assistant aboard the United Worlds rocket ships Orbit Jet and Silver Moon in the syndicated television series "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger" (1954).
- Edward Arnold Jr. was born on 15 April 1920 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Blazing Barriers (1937), The Adventures of Frank Merriwell (1936) and Million Dollar Legs (1939). He was married to Doris Gaines Coates. He died on 14 August 1996 in Westlake Village, California, USA.
- Karl Lukas was born on 21 August 1919 in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), State Trooper (1956) and Emperor of the North (1973). He was married to Stephanie. He died on 16 January 1995 in Westlake Village, California, USA.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Oleg Borisovich Vidov was born in the suburbs of Moscow on 11 June 1943 to Varvara Vidova, a teacher, and Boris Nikolaievich Garnevich, an economist. As a child he lived with his mother, who worked for the Soviet government in the field of education in Mongolia and East Germany. When his mother was sent to China on assignment, he went to live with his aunt Anuta in Kazakstan. Eventually he moved with his mother and aunt to Moscow. At 18, competing against hundreds of would-be actors, he was accepted to the acting department of the state film school VGIK.
Oleg appeared in 50 films since 1961, mostly in starring roles. He was a sex symbol of his generation in Russia, and many of his films are still played on Russian television today. Here his credits include "Red Heat", Wild Orchid (1989) and Thirteen Days.
In 1985, he defected to the U.S. and began acting in films and television there. Oleg and his wife obtained international distribution rights to the award-winning Soyuzmultfilm Studio animation library in 1992 and helped popularize Russian animation around the world. Together they produced numerous series based on animation they digitally restored from the Soyuzmultfilm animation library including "Animated Classic Showcase", Mikhail Baryshnikov's Stories from My Childhood (1998), Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Book", "Masters of Russian Animation", "The Adventures of Cheburashka and Friends", and "Animated Soviet Propaganda". In 2007 they sold the library to a Russian oligarch.- Actor
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Chambers was born on 15 December 1931 in Glendale, California, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Lollipop Cover (1965), Monty Nash (1971) and The Fugitive (1963). He was married to Nancy Williams and Katherine Cannon. He died on 16 August 2020 in Westlake Village, California, USA.- Susan Dorn was born on 14 May 1928 in Bronx, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Twilight Zone (1959), Sea Hunt (1958) and Highway Patrol (1955). She was married to Walter Levi Forward Jr. and Elwy Basil Jones. She died on 26 February 2020 in Westlake Village, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Radio crooner "Smilin' Jack Smith" was a popular 40s and 50s personality. He was born Jack Ward Smith on November 16, 1913, on Bainbridge Island, across Puget Sound from Seattle, Washington. His father, Walter Reed Smith, was the captain of the naval destroyer USS Dixie. Jack was named after the fort they were stationed at the time, Fort Ward. Jack's younger brother, Walter Reed Smith II, later known as Walter Reed, became a well-respected character actor and occasional leading man.
Following his parents' divorce at age 11, Jack, a good student, decided to study to be an architect, following in the path of three of his uncles. However, at age 15, he earned a job singing lead in a trio at the Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel's famed Cocoanut Grove, replacing Bing Crosby's trio, The Rhythm Boys, who had just been fired. They went on to call themselves The Three Ambassadors. The group clicked and managed to find consistent work in swanky hotels and clubs from San Francisco to New York.
The trio earned choral jobs in such movies as Walking on Air (1936), in which they sang "My Heart Wants to Dance" and appeared on the popular radio programs of the day including "The Philip Morris Show," "Your Hit Parade" and "The Kate Smith Hour." The trio broke up in 1939 and Jack, a strong baritone with a tenor lilt, went solo. Some of his popular hits would include "I'll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time", "Civilization" and "Jack, Jack, Jack". He earned his own radio show in 1945, which featured such established singing stars as Dinah Shore, Margaret Whiting and Ginny Simms.
Following a guest appearance in the musical film Make Believe Ballroom (1949), Jack was offered a secondary role in Warner Bros.' On Moonlight Bay (1951) opposite Doris Day and Gordon MacRae . Playing Doris' nerdy suitor Herbert Wakely, loses the love game pretty easily to handsome MacRae. Radio fans of Jack did not like this unflattering image of him, and Jack, actually a tall, dark and strappingly handsome figure, turned down the role when it was repeated in the sequel By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953).
Radio lost its core audience with the coming of TV and Jack subsequently lost his show in 1952. He switched gears and became the TV host of the long-running show You Asked for It (1950) during the 1958-1959 season, which answered viewers' requests for unusual stunts, sights, etc., and stayed with it in various syndicated versions until 1991.
His career lasting well over six decades, Jack was married to former actress Victoria Stuart until her death in 2003. He followed her at age 92 on July 3, 2006, of leukemia.- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Costume Designer
- Production Designer
Patricia Norris was born on 22 March 1931 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was a costume designer and production designer, known for 12 Years a Slave (2013), 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984) and Days of Heaven (1978). She was married to Richard Harry Norris. She died on 20 February 2015 in Westlake Village, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jennifer Rae Beck was known for her film role in Gypsy as Dainty June, playing opposite Bette Midler. She also toured as Eponine in Les Miserables, her favorite role. She loved to antique and had a shop Chalk Farm which she was passionate about. Jennifer loved her children and fought her cancer hard to stay with them as long as she could. Jennifer was married to Ian Owen-Ward at the time of her death, having had previous marriages with Jack Tantleff and Doug Storm.- Producer
- Writer
- Editor
Joe Ruby was an American animator, television writer, television producer, and music editor from Los Angeles. Ruby and his partner Ken Spears were the co-creators of the "Scooby-Doo" franchise, and all five its original co-protagonists. They later co-founded the animation studio Ruby-Spears (1977-1996), which produced a large number of animated television series.
In 1933, Ruby was born in Los Angeles. His parents were Dr. Carl Ruby and his wife Mildred Fineberg. Both parents were Canadian emigrants to the United States, and both originated from Jewish families. Ruby received his secondary education at Fairfax High School (1924-), located in Los Angeles. The high school had a large Jewish student body until the late 1960s.
Following his high school graduation, Ruby joined the United States Navy. During the Korean War, he served as a sonar operator on a destroyer. Afterwards, he received art lessons. He was hired as an inbetweener by the Walt Disney Animation Studios. He left the studio to pursue careers as a music editor and as a freelance comic book artist and writer.
By 1959, Ruby started working as a television writer. He formed a partnership with aspiring writer Ken Spears, who was also a veteran of the United States Navy. During the 1960s, the duo variously worked for the animation studios Hanna-Barbera and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. They also lend their services to the production company of Sid and Marty Krofft.
Ruby and Spears served as the co-creators of the animated series "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969-1970), the original incarnation of Scooby-Doo. They also created its main characters: Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Fred Jones, and Shaggy Rogers, along with their pet dog Scooby-Doo. All of the human characters were modeled after characters from the popular sitcom "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" (1959-1963). Ruby and Spears collaborated closely with Fred Silverman, then head of daytime programming at CBS. Silverman was the one who had commissioned the series in the first place.
Due to their working relationship with Fred Silverman, Ruby and Spears were hired to supervise the production of CBS's Saturday morning cartoon lineup during the early 1970s. When Silverman started working for ABC in 1975, he soon hired Ruby and Spears. ABC would eventually help Ruby and Spears to secure the funds to create their own animation studio, Ruby-Spears (1977-1996). The studio was initially a subsidiary of Filmways (1952-1982), a television production company that had produced a number of hit sitcoms during the 1960s.
In 1981, Filmways sold the Ruby-Spears studio to Taft Entertainment. Taft was the parent company of Hanna-Barbera, and the two animation studios often co-produced series during the 1980s. Ruby served as the executive producer of a number of notable series, such as the post-apocalyptic series "Thundarr the Barbarian" (1980-1981), the action-adventure series "Mister T" (1983-1985), and the first five seasons of the musical comedy "Alvin and the Chipmunks" (1983-1988).
In 1991, Taft Entertainment sold the library of Ruby-Spears to Turner Broadcasting System, along with the entirety of Hanna-Barbera. That same year, Ruby-Spears became a subsidiary of the RS Holdings. Ruby continued leading the studio for its remaining years. Ruby co-produced the "Weird West" series "Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa" (1992-1993), the superhero series "Megaman" (1994-1996), and the superhero series "Skysurfer Strike Force" (1995-1996). But these were the studio's last productions. Ruby-Spears ceased operations in 1996.
In 1995, Ruby served as the producer of the live-action horror comedy "Rumpelstiltskin" (1995). He mostly retired in the late 1990s, staying away from the limelight. In 2020, Ruby had an accidental fall. His heath never recovered. He died due to complications from the fall on August 26, 2020, at the age of 87. He was survived by his wife Carole. Days after Ruby's death, veteran animator Dan Haskett created a new poster in tribute to Ruby. Several of Ruby's animated productions have continued to have cult followings.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Patsy Parsons was born on 9 June 1931 in Parkersburg, West Virginia, USA. She was an actress, known for Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (1954) and The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine (1942). She was married to Solon Charles Soteras and William Powell. She died on 26 October 2006 in Westlake Village, California, USA.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Arch Oboler was born on 7 December 1909 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a writer and director, known for Five (1951), The Twonky (1953) and The Bubble (1966). He was married to Eleanor Helfand. He died on 19 March 1987 in Westlake Village, California, USA.- Art Department
John S. Detlie was born on 23 December 1908 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA. He is known for Bitter Sweet (1940), Strike Up the Band (1940) and Lady Be Good (1941). He was married to Virginia Crowell Detlie and Veronica Lake. He died on 30 November 2005 in Westlake Village, California, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Music Department
Chris Bearde one of America's premiere televison producers was born in England but grew up in his adopted home Australia. His various creative contributions have brought us some of our happiest television memories. From "The Laugh In", through _"Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special" (1968) (TV)_ to _"The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" (1971)_ and _"The Gong Show" (1976)_ to his cult Showtime hit 'Sherman Oak', the manic Bearde touch stands alone.
Bearde wrote the book for a new musical titled "Got You Babe".
(2013) Currently Chris Bearde Entertainment has development deals with Howie Mandel, and Vin DiBona Productions.- Lisa Lyon was born on 13 May 1953 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Three Crowns of the Sailor (1982), Bert D'Angelo/Superstar (1976) and Vamp (1986). She was married to Alan Deglin and Bernard Lavilliers. She died on 8 September 2023 in Westlake Village, California, USA.