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- Actor
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Fred Gwynne was an enormously talented character actor most famous for starring in the television situation comedies Car 54, Where Are You? (1961) (as Officer Francis Muldoon) and The Munsters (1964) (as the Frankenstein clone Herman Munster). He was very tall at 6'5" and had a resonant, baritone voice that he put to good use in Broadway musicals.
Born Frederick Hubbard Gwynne in New York City, the son of Dorothy (Ficken) and Frederick Walker Gwynne, a wealthy stockbroker and partner in the securities firm Gwynne Brothers. His grandfathers emigrated from Northern Ireland and England, respectively, and his grandmothers were native-born New Yorkers. Fred attended the exclusive prep school Groton, where he first appeared on stage in a student production of William Shakespeare's "Henry V". After serving in the United States Navy as a radioman during World War II, he went on to Harvard, where he majored in English and was on the staff of the "Harvard Lampoon". At Harvard, he studied drawing with artist R.S. Merryman and was active in dramatics. A member of the Hasty Pudding Club, he performed in the dining club's theatricals, appearing in the drag revues of 1949 and 1950. After graduating from Harvard with the class of 1951, Gwynne acted in Shakespeare with a Cambridge, Massachusetts repertory company before heading to New York City, where he supported himself as a musician and copywriter. His principal source of income for many years came from his work as a book illustrator and as a commercial artist. His first book, "The Best in Show", was published in 1958.
On February 20, 1952, he made his Broadway debut as the character "Stinker", in support of Helen Hayes, in the comic fantasy "Mrs. McThing". The play, written by "Harvey (1950)" author Mary Chase, had a cast featuring Ernest Borgnine, the future "Professor" Irwin Corey and Brandon De Wilde, the young son of the play's stage manager, Frederick DeWilde. The play ran for 320 performances and closed on January 10, 1953. He next appeared on Broadway in Burgess Meredith's staging of Nathaniel Benchley's comedy "The Frogs of Spring", which opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on October 21, 1953. The play flopped, closing on Halloween Day after but 15 performances. He did not appear on Broadway again for almost seven years.
Gwynne made his movie debut, unbilled, as one of Johnny Friendly's gang of thugs who menace Marlon Brando in Elia Kazan's classic On the Waterfront (1954). From 1956 - 1963, he appeared on the television dramatic showcases Studio One (1948), The Kaiser Aluminum Hour (1956), Kraft Theatre (1947), The DuPont Show of the Month (1957), The DuPont Show of the Week (1961) and The United States Steel Hour (1953). But it was in situation comedies that he made his name and his fame.
In 1955, he made a memorable guest appearance as Private Honigan on The Phil Silvers Show (1955). He played a soldier with an enormous appetite that Phil Silvers' Sgt. Bilko entered into a pie-eating contest, only to discover he could only eat like a trencherman when he was depressed. The spot led to him coming back as a guest in more episodes. While appearing on Broadway as the pimp Polyte-Le-Mou in the Peter Brook-directed hit "Irma La Douce" (winner of the 1961 Tony Award for Best Musical), "Bilko" producer-writer Nat Hiken cast him in one of the lead roles in the situation comedy Car 54, Where Are You? (1961). The series, in which he revealed his wonderful flair for comedy, had Gwynne appearing as New York City police officer Francis Muldoon, who served in a patrol car in the Bronx with the dimwitted Officer Gunther Toody, played by co-star Joe E. Ross ("Oooh! Oooh!"). Car 54, Where Are You? (1961) lasted only two seasons, but it was so fondly remembered by Baby Boomers, it inspired a feature film version in 1994. He also served as Lamb Chop's doctor on another Baby Boomer classic, The Shari Lewis Show (1960).
Another one of his "Car 54, Where Are You?" co-stars, Al Lewis, not only became a lifelong friend, he appeared as Gwynne's father-n-law in his next situation comedy. Gwynne was cast as the Frankenstein's monster-like paterfamilias in The Munsters (1964), which also lasted two seasons. In addition to wearing heavy boots with four-inch lifts on them, Gwynne had to wear 40 - 50 lbs of padding and makeup for the role and he reportedly lost ten pounds in one day of filming under the hot lights. He made guest appearances as Herman Munster, most notably on The Red Skelton Hour (1951), appearing on April 27, 1965, along with Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, a pop band from The Beatles' native Liverpool. Gwynne appeared in character as Herman Munster in a "Freddie the Freeloader" comedy sketch.
When "The Munsters" was canceled after the 1965-1966 season, Gwynne returned to the theatre to escape television typecasting, although he did return for a featured appearance in the televised version of Arsenic and Old Lace (1969), playing the psychotic Jonathan Brewster in an all-star cast, including with his "Mrs. McThing" co-star Helen Hayes, Lillian Gish, Bob Crane, Sue Lyon, Jack Gilford and David Wayne. He appeared twice on television in Mary Chase's "Harvey" (1950), the first time in 1958 on the "Dupont Show of the Month" version broadcast by CBS, in which he appeared in support of Art Carney as Elwood P. Dodd. Others in the cast included Elizabeth Montgomery, Jack Weston and Larry Blyden. He appeared as the cab driver in the 1972 version, Harvey (1972), in which James Stewart reprised his role as Elwood P. Dodd, in which he was reunited with his Broadway co-star Helen Hayes.
In 1968, he made a television series pilot for Screen Gems, "Guess What I Did Today?", co-starring Bridget Hanley, who later played Candy Pruit on Here Come the Brides (1968). The pilot, which was made for NBC, was not picked up by the network. Gwynne had trouble making producers forget his character Herman Munster and he started refusing to have anything to do with or even to speak of the show. One of the few visual productions to utilize his beautiful singing voice was The Littlest Angel (1969), a musical produced as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951).
His movie and television appearances were sporadic throughout the 1970s as he worked on- and off-Broadway. He had used his singing voice again to great effect in Meredith Wilson's musical "Here's Love", which opened at the Shubert Theatre on October 20, 1963 and played for 334 performances, closing on July 25, 1964. Exactly nine years from the "Here's Love" opening, he appeared at the Plymouth as "Abraham Lincoln" in the Broadway play "The Lincoln Mask", a flop that lasted but one week of eight performances.
His most distinguished performance on Broadway (and the favourite of all of his theatrical roles, was as Big Daddy in the 1974 Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". Though not as cutting as Burl Ives had been in the original production, his Big Daddy was lyrical and powerful, so much so that he overpowered Keir Dullea in the role of "Brick". However, Elizabeth Ashley won a Tony Award for playing Maggie the Cat in the production, which gave Tennessee Williams his first big success in a decade, albeit in a revival.
Gwynne also was memorable as the elderly Klansman in the first two parts of "The Texas Trilogy" in 1977 season. His last appearance on Broadway was in Anthony Shaffer's "Whodunnit", which opened at the Biltmore Theatre on December 30, 1983 and closed May 15, 1983 after 157 total performances. Before saying goodbye to the Broadway stage in a hit, he had appeared on the Great White Way in two flops in 1978: "Angel", the musical version of Thomas Wolfe's "Look Homeward, Angel" (which lasted but five performances) and the Australian professional football club drama "Players" (which lasted 23 performances). For the Joseph Papp Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival, he had appeared in Off-Broadway in "More Than You Deserve" in the 1973-1974 season and, in "Grand Magic", during the 1978-1979 season, for which he won an Obie Award. On the radio, Gwynne appeared in 79 episodes of "The CBS Radio Mystery Theatre" between 1975 and 1982.
With time, his characterization of Herman Munster began to fade and he began establishing himself as a film character actor of note in the 1980s with well-reviewed appearances in The Cotton Club (1984), Ironweed (1987), Disorganized Crime (1989) and Pet Sematary (1989), in which his character, Jud Crandall, was based on author Stephen King, who himself is quite tall. Gwynne also made a memorable turn as the judge who battles with the eponymous My Cousin Vinny (1992), his last film. Critic and cinema historian Mick LaSalle cited Gwynne's performance as Judge Chamberlain Haller in his August 2003 article "Role call of overlooked performances is long", writing: "Half of what made Joe Pesci funny in this comedy was the stream of reactions of Gwynne, as the Southern Judge, a Great Dane to Joe Pesci's yapping terrier."
Gwynne sang professionally, painted, sculpted, wrote & illustrated children's books, including: "The King Who Rained" (1970); "A Chocolate Moose for Dinner" (1976); "A Little Pigeon Toad" (1988) and "Pondlarker" (1990). He wrote 10 books in all and "The King Who Rained", "A Chocolate Moose for Dinner" and "A Little Pigeon Toad", which all were published by the prestigious house Simon & Schuster, are still in print. In the first part of his professional life, Gwynne lived a quiet life in suburban Bedford, New York and avoided the Hollywood and Broadway social scenes. He married his first wife Foxy in 1952. They had five children and divorced in 1980. He and his second wife Deb, whom he married in 1981, lived in a renovated farmhouse in rural Taneytown, Maryland. His neighbors described him as a good friend and neighbor who kept his personal and professional lives separate.
Fred Gwynne died on July 2, 1993, in Taneytown, Maryland, after a battle with cancer of the pancreas. He was just eight days shy of turning 67 years old. He is sorely missed by those that who grew up delighted by his Officer Francis Muldoon and Herman Munster and were gratified by his late-career renaissance on film.- Born March 17, 1931, in New York City, Patricia Breslin was the daughter of Edward and Marjorie Breslin. Her father was a special sessions judge in New York. She attending the College of New Rochelle, where she played leading roles in plays, and graduated with a B.A. in psychology. Then she began acting in summer stock productions before moving to Hollywood. She made her TV debut as "Juliet" in the NBC-TV production, Romeo and Juliet (1949), in 1952. During the next few years, she made frequent stage appearances and met her husband, David Orrick McDearmon, an actor and writer. They were married in October 1953. She co-starred with Jackie Cooper in the TV series, The People's Choice (1955) (1955-58).
- Physical Education major Gordon Weschkul left the University of Oregon after one term. He became an infantry drill instructor (rifle, pistol and bayonet; judo and hand-to-hand combat; close order drill), then a military policeman. After his honorable discharge in 1947, he was a fireman, cowboy, and farm machinery salesman. In 1953, a Las Vegas lifeguard, he was spotted by a pair of Hollywood agents who introduced him and his 19-inch biceps to Sol Lesser, who had already conducted 200 tests in search of a new Tarzan. The producer gave him a seven-year contract and a new last name. His three MGM Tarzans were run-of-the mill, but his two for Sy Weintraub, through Paramount, marked a rebirth of the Tarzan character. The movies were well received. Weintraub was looking for a leaner, more thoughtful Tarzan so Scott moved on to a number of Italian strong-man spectaculars and spaghetti westerns, becoming a sensation in Europe.
- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Tom Clancy became one of the best-selling writers of the late 20th and early 21st Centuries, starting with the publication of his 1984 thriller, The Hunt for Red October (1990). Born in Baltimore to a U.S. Post Office employee and his wife on April 12, 1947, Clancy graduated from Loyola Blakefield, a Catholic private high school, in 1965 and then attended Loyola College. After graduating with his bachelor's degree in English literature, Clancy went into the insurance business as poor eyesight kept him out of the military. Despite being unable to serve during the Vietnam War, military and Cold War politics remained close to his heart.
While running his own insurance agency in Maryland, he wrote "The Hunt for Red October", which was published by the Naval Institute Press in 1984. Clancy received the princely sum of $5,000 from this most unusual venue for a work of fiction, but the book struck a nerve in the depths of the latter stages of the Cold War. The hardcover from the Naval Institute sold 45,000 copies, an amazing amount for a first novel from a publishing house peddling its first book of fiction, but the paperback (boosted by a strong recommendation from President Ronald Reagan) sold two million copies.
The book was very detailed and extremely savvy when it came to the machinations of the military and Cold War politicians. In fact, Clancy's editor at the Naval Institute Press had him eliminate details, which trimmed the novel by 100 pages. In all, he wrote 28 books, mostly fiction but also, military themed non-fiction books. Clancy placed 17 books on the New York Times Best Seller List, many of which hit #1. His oeuvre accounted for sales of 100 million copies, making him one of the all-time most popular writers in history.
Clancy became a media industry onto himself. He was successful lending his name and ideas to video games, and his video game company Red Storm Entertainment was bought out for $45 million in 2000. Clancy-branded video games racked up sales of 76 million units. Movies adapted from Clancy's works racked up $786.5 million at the box office.
Tom Clancy died of heart failure on October 1, 2013. He was 66 years old.- Writer
- Actor
- Director
William Peter Blatty was born on 7 January 1928 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for The Exorcist (1973), The Exorcist III (1990) and The Ninth Configuration (1980). He was married to Julie Alicia Witbrodt, Linda Blatty, Elizabeth Gilman and Mary Margaret Rigard. He died on 12 January 2017 in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Gian-Carlo Coppola was born on 17 September 1963 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for The Outsiders (1983), Rumble Fish (1983) and Apocalypse Now (1979). He died on 26 May 1986 in Annapolis, Maryland, USA.- Robert F. Chew was born on 28 December 1960 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for Homicide: Life on the Street (1993), The Wire (2002) and Jamesy Boy (2014). He died on 17 January 2013 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Arch Johnson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1922. A stage actor as well as a prolific television character actor, he was in the original production of "West Side Story" on Broadway and the revival of that show in the 1980s on Broadway as well. He was the only actor from the original stage version who returned for the revival and he toured Europe with the show. He was in the original version of "Other People's Money" on Broadway and originated the Role of "Jorge" that Gregory Peck played in the film version (Other People's Money (1991)). His first love was theatre, where he started, and he came back to it at the end of his career before retiring in the late 1990s. He passed away in October of 1997 from cancer. He was survived by five children (Jennifer, Jessica, Joseph, Archie Jr. and LouAnn) and seven grandchildren (Nicholas, Dominic, Brian, Bradley, Sharon, Nancy and Christi). He also had six great-grandchildren.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born on June 16, 1910, sultry, opulent, mole-lipped, Budapest-bred blonde singer/actress Ilona Massey survived an impoverished childhood in Hungary to become a glamorous talent both here and abroad. As a dressmaker's apprentice she managed to scrape up money together for singing lessons and first danced in chorus lines, later earning roles at the Staats Opera.
A statuesque Broadway, radio and night-club performer, Ilona made her debut in the Austrian film Heaven on Earth (1935) before coming to America to duet with Nelson Eddy in a couple of his glossy operettas. In the first, Rosalie (1937), she was secondary to Mr. Eddy and Eleanor Powell, but in the second vehicle, Balalaika (1939), she was the popular baritone's prime co-star.
Billed as "the new Dietrich," Ms. Massey did not live up to the hype as her soprano voice was deemed too light for the screen and her acting talent too slight and mannered. An American citizen in 1946, continued pleasantly moody in non-singing roles in a brief movie career that included such films as the Franz Schubert biopic New Wine (1941); the action adventure International Lady (1941); the double agent Nazi thriller Invisible Agent (1942), the musical comedy Holiday in Mexico (1946), the action drama Northwest Outpost (1947) and the romantic drama Trouble in the Air (1948).
For the most part Ilona was called upon to play ladies of mystery and sophisticated temptresses in thrillers and spy intrigues. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) and Love Happy (1949), the latter starring The Marx Brothers, are her best recalled. She appeared on radio as a spy in the Top Secret program and, on TV, co-starred in the espionage series Rendezvous (1952). The ABC mystery-drama had glamorous Ilona as a nightclub owner.
In the mid-50s, in addition to singing appearances on "Cavalcade of Stars," "The Milton Berle Show," "The Robert Q. Lewis Show," The Colgate Comedy Hour" and "The Ken Murray Show" and acting guest spots on such anthologies as "Lux Video Theatre," "Cameo Theatre" and "Studio One in Hollywood," Ilona hosted her own musical program, The Ilona Massey Show (1954), in which she sang classy ballads. By the 1960's she was rarely seen and ended her career with an obscure bit in the film The Cool Ones (1967).
Three marriages ended in divorce, her second being to actor Alan Curtis. 64-year-old Ms. Massey died of cancer on August 20, 1974, and was survived by her fourth husband, (retired) Major Donald Shelton Dawson. She had no children.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts. His father, named David Poe Jr., and his mother, named Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe, were touring actors. Both parents died in 1811, and Poe became an orphan before he was 3 years old. He was adopted by John Allan, a tobacco merchant in Richmond, Virginia, and was sent to a boarding school in London, England. He later attended the University of Virginia for one year, but dropped out and ran up massive gambling debts after spending all of his tuition money. John Allan broke off Poe's engagement to his fiancée Sarah Royster. Poe was heartbroken, traumatized, and broke. He had no way out and enlisted in the army in May of 1827. At the same time Poe published his first book, "Tamerlane and Other Poems" (1827). In 1829, he became a West Point cadet, but was dismissed after 6 months for disobedience. By that time he published "Al Aaraf" (1929) and "Poems by Edgar A. Poe" (1831), with the funds contributed by his fellow cadets. His early poetry, though written in the manner of Lord Byron, already shows the musical effects of his verses.
Poe moved in with his widowed aunt, Maria Clemm, and her teenage daughter, Virginia Eliza Clemm, whom he married before she was 14 years old. He earned respect as a critic and writer. In his essays "The Poetic Principle" and "The Philosophy of Composition," Poe formulated important literary theories. But his career suffered from his compulsive behavior and from alcoholism. He did produce, however, a constant flow of highly musical poems, of which "The Raven" (1845) and "The Bells" (1849) are the finest examples. Among his masterful short stories are "Ligeia" (1838), "The Fall of the House of Usher"(1839) and "The Masque of the Red Death". Following his own theory of creating "a certain unique or single effect", Poe invented the genre of the detective story. His works: "The Murder in the Rue Morgue" (1841) is probably the first detective story ever published.
Just when his life began to settle, Poe was devastated by the death of his wife Virginia in 1847. Two years later he returned to Richmond and resumed a relationship with his former fiancée, Sarah Royster, who, by that time, was a widow. But shortly after their happy reconciliation he was found unconscious on a street in Baltimore. Poe was taken to the Washington College Hospital where Doctor John Moran diagnosed "lesions on the brain" (the Doctor believed Poe was mugged). He died 4 days later, briefly coming in and out of consciousness, just to whisper his last words, "Lord, help my poor soul." The real cause of his death is still unknown and his death certificate has disappeared. Poe's critic and personal enemy, named Rufus Griswold, published an insulting obituary; later he visited Poe's home and took away all of the writer's manuscripts (which he never returned), and published his "Memoir" of Poe, in which he forged a madman image of the writer.
The name of the woman in Poe's poem "Annabel Lee" was used by Vladimir Nabokov in 'Lolita' as the name for Humbert's first love, Annabelle Leigh. Nabokov also used in 'Lolita' some phrases borrowed from the poem of Edgar Allan Poe. "The Fall of the House of Usher" was set to music by Claude Debussy as an opera. Sergei Rachmaninoff created a musical tribute to Poe by making his favorite poem "The Bells" into the eponymous Choral Symphony.- Carl Ruiz was a celebrity chef and consultant who helped numerous other celebrity chefs carve out and craft their own brands, his own restaurant, Marie's Italian Specialties, located at 641 Shunpike Road Chatham, New Jerse was featured on The Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives." Ruiz won the grand prize on Guy's Grocery Games, in which 16 of the best chefs from Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives were pitted against each other. He was also featured on Guy's Grocery Games as a celebrity judge giving his sage advice and counsel to up and coming chefs.
Ruiz was a regular guest on the Opie Radio Show on Sirius XM along side Gregg "Opie" Hughes'. - Johnny Eck was born John Echkardt, twenty minutes after his twin brother Robert. The boys entered the sideshow circuit at the age of 12, where John was billed as "Johnny Eck, The Half-boy." Johnny went on to play a role in Tod Browning's Freaks (1932) before returning with his brother to Baltimore, where he became a screen painter. Johnny died January 5, 1991, at the age of 79, in the house where he was born.
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
John Daly was born on 20 February 1914 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was an actor and producer, known for The Front Page (1949), The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956) and Pistols 'n' Petticoats (1966). He was married to Virginia Warren and Margaret Criswell Neal. He died on 24 February 1991 in Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA.- Maria Pechukas was born on 22 November 1966 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. She was an actress, known for Spookies (1986), Carmilla (1998) and Valerie (1992). She was married to Jay Lind. She died on 1 February 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Biz Markie was an African-American rapper, disk jockey and actor. He was known for his hit 1989 song "Just a Friend". He played a beatboxing alien in Men in Black II (2002) alongside Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. He was originally going to voice The Grizz in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (2013) but left during pre-production of the game with Fred Tatasciore replacing him. He passed away in 2021 due to complications from diabetes.- Actress
- Make-Up Department
Tamara Dobson was born on 14 May 1947 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She was an actress, known for Cleopatra Jones (1973), Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975) and Chained Heat (1983). She died on 2 October 2006 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.- Additional Crew
- Executive
Robert Altman was born on 23 February 1947 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was an executive, known for Dishonored (2012), Prey (2017) and The Evil Within 2 (2017). He was married to Lynda Carter. He died on 4 February 2021 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.- Norman 'Chubby' Chaney was born on 18 October 1914 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for Love Business (1931), Shivering Shakespeare (1930) and Pups Is Pups (1930). He died on 29 May 1936 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Born in Boston, Richard De Angelis served in the Navy during the Korean conflict and worked as an accountant for 14 years. At 38, he quit smoking, became a vegetarian and enrolled in acting school. He received a master's degree in 1983 from the University of Maryland's theater arts program.
He played Baltimore police Col. Raymond Foerster on the HBO crime drama "The Wire" until his December 2005 death.
De Angelis also appeared in plays, TV commercials, radio spots and print advertisements in an acting career that spanned four decades. He performed stand-up comedy for many years under the name Ricky Roach.
In addition to his recurring role on "The Wire," De Angelis appeared in "Homicide: The Movie" and the John Waters films "A Dirty Shame" and "Cecil B. Demented." - Actor
- Director
- Producer
Edward Mallory was born on 14 June 1930 in Cumberland, Maryland, USA. He was an actor and director, known for General Hospital (1963), The Young and the Restless (1973) and Days of Our Lives (1965). He was married to Susanne Zenor, Joyce Bulifant, Pam Leho and Nancy McCarthy. He died on 4 April 2007 in Cumberland, Maryland, USA.- Carlyle Mitchell was born on 10 October 1906 in Logan, West Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for Blood of Dracula (1957), The Living Christ Series (1951) and Science Fiction Theatre (1955). He died on 3 April 1964 in Colesville, Maryland, USA.
- Caleb Logan was born on the 13th of July 2002 and died on Oct 1, 2015 at the age of 13. He was the oldest of the Bratayley kids and was the only boy. His favorite colors were purple and black and his favorite food was macaroni and cheese. Caleb was on a baseball team and the team colors are blue, white and red. Also, on the back of his baseball uniform, it says his name and the number 7. He was the person who made up the 'I am a Baked Potato' song which is played at the end of every vlog.
Life and Death
We all know Caleb Logan from Bratayley and we all know that he was a funny, loving, caring, and an all around amazing person. And for years we fell in love in his personality. He was an amazing brother, son, friend, and a idolized YouTuber. It is sad that Caleb passed away October1st 2015 at 7:08pm. Bare with Bratayley as they grieve for their loving son/brother. He is in better place now. RIP Caleb Logan. You will forever be missed.
Survived by His sisters Annie and Hayley and his parents Katie and Billy. - Writer
- Additional Crew
James M. Cain was a 'Film Noir' author. His father was a professor, and president, of 'Washington College'. His mother was an opera singer in Maryland.
James graduated from the same college in 1910, and became a writer for 'Baltimore American', then 'Baltimore Sun' [still being published] by 1914. He was drafted in 1916, and spent 1918 in France as a writer for the 'Army Times'. When released, he did writing for various publications, and by 1934, his first novel,"The Postman Always Rings Twice", was published. Of Course, a very popular movie in 1946.
With adaptations of his novels[credit only as 'story contributor'],he was much in demand in the 40's in the 'Film Noir' category. But, in 1946, he formed a 'Cain Plan' ["American Authors' Authority"]whereby The writers would have authority of copyrights, and be the representative for them in negotiations with the movie producers and court disputes. Resembling 'S.A.G.', it was opposed by an org. called, "The American Writers' Assoc.". There was a debate carried on in the 'Saturday Review'.
He was married 4 times.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Don Dohler was born on January 27, 1946 in Baltimore, Maryland. Dohler became interested in fantastic films at a very young age (Dohler was a longtime reader of the popular horror magazine "Famous Monsters of Filmland"). He began making 8mm shorts at age 12. Dohler also published a "Mad" magazine type spin-off called "Wild" in his teen years. Dohler's initial forays into filmmaking include the stop-motion animation short "Mr. Clay" and the sci-fi effort "Pursued." Both films won awards from the amateur filmmakers club the Washington Society of Cinematographers. In 1972 Dohler launched the movie magazine "Cinemagic," which had an eleven issue run which lasted until 1979. Dohler made his feature length debut with the enjoyably cheap "The Alien Factor." Don's follow-up films were a pretty eclectic bunch: the creepy horror offering "Fiend," the gloriously gaga "Nightbeast," the goofy "Galaxy Invader," and the outrageously gruesome "Blood Massacre." After a regrettably lengthy absence from movie-making, Dohler bounced back with the belated sequel "Alien Factor 2: The Alien Rampage." In addition, Don served as both writer and producer on the straight-to-video fright flicks "Harvesters," "Stakes," "Crawler," and "Vampire Sisters." Moreover, Dohler was managing editor of the newspaper the Times Herald. Don Dohler died at age 60 of cancer on December 2nd, 2006.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Ben Slack was born on 23 July 1937 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for Bachelor Party (1984), Murder in the First (1995) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987). He died on 13 December 2004 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Valerie Stevenson was born on 19 October 1962 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for Dreams (1984), Project A-Ko (1986) and The A-Team (1983). She was married to Lance G. Joseph. She died on 10 January 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.- Michael Lindsay was born on 9 May 1963 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was an actor, known for Akira (1988), Digimon: Digital Monsters (1999) and Mobile Suit Gundam I (1981). He was married to Linda Rose Payne. He died on 31 August 2019 in Laurel, Maryland, USA.
- Melvin Williams was born on 14 December 1941 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for The Wire (2002), American Gangster (2006) and The Walter Hawkins Tribute Concert (2010). He was married to Mary Williams. He died on 3 December 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Art Modell was born on 23 June 1925 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer, known for Market Melodies (1949), The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... (1999) and The Mike Douglas Show (1961). He was married to Patricia Breslin. He died on 6 September 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Danny Mills was an actor, known for Pink Flamingos (1972), Edith's Shopping Bag (1976) and Divine Trash (1998). He died on 21 January 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Betty Low was born in 1916 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She was an actress, known for Law & Order (1990), 84 Charing Cross Road (1987) and The Royal Family (1977). She died on 12 March 2016 in Annapolis, Maryland, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Thin and tart-tongued, Baltimore-born theater actress Hilda Vaughn, had a decade of intense activity at the beginning of the sound period, mainly at MGM. Although she always played a pleb (a maid, a charwoman, a governess, a saleswoman, a slavey, ...) and never a patrician, the characters she embodied did not lack ... character! Which is best exemplified by her best part, Tina, Jean Harlow's blackmailing domestic in George Cukor's "Dinner at Eight" (1933). After 1940, Hilda Vaughn returned to the theatre. She was blacklisted by McCarthy during the Witch Hunt.- Writer
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
Robert Garland was born on 1 May 1937 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for No Way Out (1987), The Big Blue (1988) and The Electric Horseman (1979). He died on 21 November 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.- Actress
- Writer
Jayne Valseca was born on 5 September 1966 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Stella (1990), We Have Your Husband (2011) and Dateline NBC (1992). She was married to Eduardo Valseca. She died on 3 May 2012 in Potomac, Maryland, USA.- Susan Walsh was born on 30 March 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She was an actress, known for Pink Flamingos (1972), Female Trouble (1974) and Go-Go Motel (2003). She died on 6 February 2009 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Peter Gil was born on 16 January 1941 in Cuenca, Ecuador. He was an actor, known for Mickey (2004), Fallout 3 (2008) and Cecil B. Demented (2000). He died on 12 June 2016 in Rockville, Maryland, USA.
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Soundtrack
Mark Baker was born on 2 October 1946 in Cumberland, Maryland, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1976), The Equalizer (1985) and Swashbuckler (1976). He was married to Patricia Britton. He died on 13 August 2018 in Cumberland, Maryland, USA.- Editor
- Writer
- Actor
Erik Kristopher Myers was born on 19 March 1976 in Hagerstown, Maryland, USA. He was an editor and writer, known for Roulette (2012), Butterfly Kisses (2018) and A Split Personality (2013). He was married to Laura Myers. He died on 15 September 2021 in Maryland, USA.- Actor
- Music Department
- Sound Department
Philip Dodds was born on 17 May 1951 in Coronado, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). He was married to Susan Kriss Hayden. He died on 6 October 2007 in Annapolis, Maryland, USA.- Melinda Byron was born on 20 October 1936 in Evanston, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Teenage Thunder (1957), Rescue 8 (1958) and Henry, the Rainmaker (1949). She was married to Faust F. Rossi. She died on 30 May 2018 in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
- Music Artist
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Eva Marie Cassidy was born on 2nd February, 1963 in Washington Hospital Center in the United States to Barbara and Hugh Cassidy. Eva grew up with her siblings, Anette, Margaret and Dan, in Bowie, Maryland. The Cassidy family was very musical. From an early age, Eva could master harmonies and first learned the auto-harp but later went on to learn the acoustic guitar. It wasn't just music at which she excelled, she was also a very talented artist. Through her teens, alongside her brother, Eva performed in a high school band called "Stonehenge". Some of the members from "Stonehenge" later worked with her on her later recordings. Though an musician, Eva also worked at a tree nursery, called Behnke's. While recording an album in 1987, alongside ex-Stonehenge musician, Ned Judy, Eva sang vocals for Method Actor. Songs written by David Christopher (formerly known as David Lourim). It was through these recording sessions that she met music producer, Chris Biondo. She made eight albums in total. The Other Side (Duet With Chuck Brown), Live At Blues Alley, Eva By Heart, Songbird, Time After Time, Imagine, American Tune and Method Actor. But tragedy struck on November 2nd, 1996, when she died of melanoma (skin cancer) after a long battle with the disease.
It was after Eva's death that her albums became really successful. It was in 1997, that Paul Walters, a producer for BBC Radio 2 discovered her, and it was "Over The Rainbow" that was played on Terry Wogan's show and ultimately led to the release of the "Songbird" album, which by late 2000 achieved Gold and, by 2001, platinum. Eva's songs have brought solace to those who have lost loved ones, and her songs have been used for cancer research adverts and have been used in Love Actually (2003) and Maid in Manhattan (2002).- Steve Waters was born on 30 December 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for Pink Flamingos (1972), Polyester (1981) and Multiple Maniacs (1970). He was married to Sharon Waters. He died on 5 December 2009 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Joseph McCarthy was born on 14 November 1908 in Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. He was married to Jean Kerr Minetti. He died on 2 May 1957 in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
- Howard K. Smith was born on 12 May 1914 in Ferriday, Louisiana, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), V (1984) and CBS Reports (1959). He was married to Benedicte Traberg. He died on 15 February 2002 in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
- Jean Hill was born on 15 November 1946 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She was an actress, known for Desperate Living (1977), Polyester (1981) and A Dirty Shame (2004). She was married to Ronnie Walker. She died on 21 August 2013 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Jayna Murray was born on 22 November 1980 in Wichita, Kansas, USA. She died on 11 March 2011 in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
- Producer
- Production Manager
- Location Management
Matt Janes was born on 27 October 1959 in Urbana, Illinois, USA. He was a producer and production manager, known for Kissing Jessica Stein (2001), Dinner Rush (2000) and The Ambulance (1990). He was married to Mary A. Burkholder. He died on 25 November 2015 in Annapolis, Maryland, USA.- A former fellow Florida State University School of Theatre student during the mid-1970s, lovely, talented actress Caris Corfman suffered a tragic and debilitating reversal of fortunes in 1993. Diagnosed with a brain tumor, four operations to remove the benign mass left her with a severe and unrepairable disability. She lost the functioning of the part of her brain that controls short term memory. As a result, she could no longer memorize new lines. What was most amazing was that she could still repeat verbatim passages or monologues she had learned years and years before her operation.
In a bravura turn, Ms. Corfman returned to the stage after over a decade (Flea Theater in Lower Manhattan, October 2005) in an amazing and spiritually rewarding one-woman show entitled "Caris' Peace," in which she talks (via the use of index cards to help keep her focus and continuity of what she covered earlier) about her life and illness, before and after. As writer David Carr expressed in an article about Caris and her showcase, "Her performance is about why she can no longer perform." A filmed documentary entitled "Caris' Peace" chronicles the former actress' story and personal battles. It is obvious to me that this incredibly courageous woman never lost the love and passion she had for the stage.
The Boston-born actress (born in 1955) arrived at FSU in the mid-1970s, about the same time I did. For me, her talent was obvious from the very start. Her showcases while there ranged from a lovely and tender performance as Laura in "The Glass Menagerie" to a strong role in a daring feminist production of "The Taming of the Shrew" in which the actresses took on the male roles and vice versa. Caris played one of the trans-gendered parts with consummate energy, poise and skill. Also appearing in that very cast was another of New York's future preeminent actresses J. Smith-Cameron. One was instantly struck by Caris' natural and vibrant beauty. Mesmerizing with a head full of gorgeous blonde ringlets, two prominent cheekbones and a quick, Cheshire-cat smile, she was one of those people who drew an audience whenever she entered a room. People simply wanted to know her.
Following FSU, Caris attended the Yale School of Drama. She made her off-Broadway debut in the critically-acclaimed production of "Wings" (1978), which was part of Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. She also earned outstanding notices for her role as Emma in the Yale Repertory Theatre's production of "Curse of the Starving Class" in 1980. One of her crowning moments was creating the role of Katherina Cavalieri, Salieri's music pupil, in the original Broadway production of "Amadeus" (1980) starring Ian McKellen. Within a few months, she had succeeded Jane Seymour in the leading femme role of Mozart's wife, Constanze Weber. Throughout the 1980s, Caris continued to demonstrate her versatility in a number of original contemporary plays such as "Fish Riding Bikes," "The Sleep of Reason," "Filthy Rich," "Exact Change," "Fathers and Sons," "The Voysey Inheritance," "Dream of a Common Language" and "All This and Moonlight." She also worked with many prominent actors over the years, including David Groh and the ever-so-eccentric Sylvia Miles in "Tea with Mommy and Jack"; David Strathairn in "The Cezanne Syndrome"; Robert Lansing, Barbara Barrie and fellow FSU alumnus J. Smith-Cameron in "Mi Vida Loca"; Christian Slater in "Dry Land"; and Samuel L. Jackson and Jimmy Smits in "Native Speech." Caris was a guest artist at such prestigious repertory theaters as the Arena Stage, and displayed a strong handle on the classics over the years in productions such as O'Neill's "Anna Christie," Shakespeare's "Henry IV Parts I and I" and Congreve's "The Way of the World."
Although she made less than a handful of films, one need not look further in scouting out her possible leading lady potential than with her prime role in the intriguing British period piece Dreamchild (1985) starring Ian Holm as Lewis ("Alice in Wonderland") Carroll and Coral Browne as Alice Hargreaves, Carroll's inspiration for his "Alice" tales. As for TV, it was that medium's loss that she was not utilized more often. It didn't matter for Caris' first love was the theatre.
In 1993, following a role in the movie The Pickle (1993) starring Danny Aiello, Caris' professional journey came to an end. From then on her life would be about recovery, rehabilitation and survival. While she would not be able to remember someone she had met minutes earlier, she would remember ME from our FSU days. And I have always remembered her -- her incredible beauty, both inside and out, her charisma, her amazing talent as a performer and her obvious love and dedication to her craft. Caris' one-woman show would become living proof of the extent of that love and dedication, and, more importantly, her belief that her life was not over but in a major transition.
On January 13, 2007, Caris' life's journey ended, passing away peacefully in her sleep of a stroke at age 51. She continues to be cherished by the family, friends and actors she left behind whose lives she touched and inspired, and is deeply, deeply missed. - Writer
- Additional Crew
Tony Mendez was born on 15 November 1940 in Eureka, Nevada, USA. He was a writer, known for Argo (2012), Our Man in Tehran (2013) and Argo: The CIA and Hollywood Connection (2013). He was married to Jonna Mendez and Karen. He died on 19 January 2019 in Frederick, Maryland, USA.- One of America's greatest unsung leaders. Sargent Shriver was not only George McGovern's running mate in the 1972 Presidential election, but also served at one time as the Ambassador to France (1968-1970). In addition, he was the first to head up the Peace Corps, served as the first director of the Office of Economic Opportunity and, as a special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson, created VISTA, Head Start, Community Action, Job Corps, Legal Services, Indian and Migrant Opportunities, and Neighborhood Health Services.
Ambassador Shriver's wife, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, began the Special Olympics -- an international program of year-round sports training and athletic competition for more than one million children and adults with mental retardation. His children included newsperson Maria Shriver, producer Robert Shriver, Maryland state legislator Mark Shriver, Anthony Shriver - founder of Best Buddies, and Tim Shriver, President and CEO of the Special Olympics.