Advanced search

George Segal was born on February 13, 1934 in New York City, New York, to Fannie Blanche (Bodkin) and George Segal Sr., a malt and hop agent. All of his grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. After a stint in the military, he made his bones as a stage actor before being cast in his first meaty film role in The Young Doctors (1961). His turns in Ship of Fools (1965) and the eponymous King Rat (1965) heralded the arrival of a major talent. He followed this up with his Oscar-nominated performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), in which he more than held his own against Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) was a cultural phenomenon, the film that wrecked the MPDDA censorship code that had been in place since 1934, and a huge box office success to boot.

By the early 1970s, appearances in such films as The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), Blume in Love (1973), Born to Win (1971) and The Hot Rock (1972) had made him a major star with an enviable reputation, just under the heights of the superstar status enjoyed by the likes of Paul Newman. He followed up A Touch of Class (1973) (a hit film for which his co-star Glenda Jackson won an Oscar) with his brilliant performance as the out-of-control gambler in Robert Altman's California Split (1974).

At one time in the early 1970s, it seemed like George Segal would have a career like that enjoyed by his contemporary Jack Nicholson, that of an actor's actor equally adept at comedy and drama. Segal never made the leap to superstar status, and surprisingly, has never won a major acting award, the latter phenomenon being particularly surprising when viewed from the period 1973-74, when he reached the height of his career. It was at this point that Segal's career went awry, when he priced himself as a superstar with a seven-figure salary, but failed to come through at the box office. For example, The Black Bird (1975) was a failure, although his subsequent starring turn opposite Jane Fonda in Fun with Dick and Jane (1977) was a big hit that revitalized her career.

The thriller Rollercoaster (1977) became a modest hit even during a summer which saw it competing with Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), and he gave a adroit comic performance in Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978) with Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Morley, which proved another box office success. For all practical purposes, even after the failures of The Black Bird (1975), and The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976), it seemed like Segal, with a few deft career choices, could reorient his career and deliver on the promise of his early period.

At the end of the decade, he dropped out of a movie that would have burnished his tarnished lustre as a star: Blake Edwards' 10 (1979). 10 (1979) made Dudley Moore a star, while Arthur (1981) made him a superstar in the 1980s, a lost decade for Segal. It was an example of a career burnout usually associated with the "Oscar curse" (his No Way to Treat a Lady (1968) co-star Rod Steiger, for example, was a great character actor whose career was run off the rails by the expectations raised by the Academy Award). George Segal has never won an Oscar, but more surprisingly, has only been nominated once, for Best Supporting Actor of 1966 for his role as Nick in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).

That he didn't return to the promise of the early 1970s may be the unintended consequence of his focusing on comedy to the detriment of drama. The comedy A Touch of Class (1973) made him a million dollar-per-film movie star, and that's what he concentrated on. Segal began relying on his considerable charm to pull off movies that had little going for them other than their star, and it backfired on him. These films weren't infused with the outrageously funny, subversive comedy of Where's Poppa? (1970), a success from his first period that he enjoyed along with co-star Ruth Gordon and director Carl Reiner.

When Segal first made it in the mid-1960s, he established his serious actor bona fides with a deal he cut with ABC-TV that featured him in TV adaptations of Broadway plays. He also played a very memorable Biff Loman in Death of a Salesman (1966), shining in performance in counterpoint to the vital presence that was Lee J. Cobb's Willy Loman. It was a good life for an actor, and he took time to show off his banjo-playing skills by fronting the Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band, with which he cut several records.

While the 1980s were mostly a career wasteland for Segal, with no starring roles in hit films, he remained a popular figure on television, and appeared regularly on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), where he would routinely sing and play the banjo during interviews. After a major role in the surprise hit Look Who's Talking (1989), he co-starred with Bette Midler and James Caan in For the Boys (1991), leading to a career revival in the 1990s, using his flair for comedy as part of the ensemble cast of Just Shoot Me! (1997). In the 2010s, he co-starred as the eccentric but lovable grandfather on the hit sitcom The Goldbergs (2013). On February 14, 2017, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television on his 83rd birthday. George Segal died at age 87 of complication from bypass surgery on March 23, 2021 in Santa Rosa, California.

A Theatre Degree graduate of San Jose State College in the sixties, Stanley Anderson began his professional acting career in 1967. Prior to 1990 and his work in film and television, he had spent twenty-three years in over two hundred productions as a professional actor working at (among others) Arena Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Actors Company, and the California Shakespeare Festival. He continues to be heard as a major voiceover talent for National Geographic, Discovery, The Learning Channel, PBS, and the History Channel documentaries as well as being a primary voice for democratic issues and candidates.

A promising blue-to-gray-eyed, blonde-haired child actress of the post-WWII years who had more talent than she was given credit for, little Constance Beekman "Connie" Marshall was born on April 28, 1933 in New York City. Her parents were not of show business stock, her father being a lieutenant with the Allied Military Government in Europe. She was a direct descent of this country's fourth Chief Justice, John Marshall, and was a descendant of Gerardus Beekman, the first Colonial Governor of New York.

Sensitive-looking and sad-eyed, Connie Marshall broke into the competitive side of show business quite young as a pig-tailed model for commercial newspapers and magazines. Frequently used by New York photographers, artists and caricaturists, she began her acting career a year later by happenstance. A failed screen test taken in Hollywood was, by luck, seen by 20th Century-Fox director Lloyd Bacon, who just happened to be casting the role of little Mary Osborne in the warm family comedy-drama, Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944). The film went on to star the future husband and wife team of Anne Baxter and John Hodiak, who first met and fell in love while shooting this picture. Director Bacon stopped looking when he came across young Connie.

Educated at the Gardner School in New York, where she appeared in a few plays, and the Fox Studio School, Connie also studied ballet and ballroom dancing. She made a strong impression in her very first film, with a natural forlorn ease as one of the Osborne children that also included up-and-coming Bobby Driscoll. With Connie's second picture Sentimental Journey (1946), she was handed her best weepy-eyed showcase. Terminally ill Julie Beck (played by Maureen O'Hara) adopts an orphan girl (played by Marshall) so Julie's husband, William (John Payne), will have someone to care for after she passes away. Connie held her own and received rave reviews.

She continued to show precocious promise in the post-war years in both sentimental drama and lightweight comedy with Dragonwyck (1946) as the daughter of Vincent Price; Home, Sweet Homicide (1946) as an amateur young sleuth who tries to solve a neighborhood murder aided by brother and sister Peggy Ann Garner and Dean Stockwell; Mother Wore Tights (1947) as the daughter of song-and-dance team Betty Grable and Dan Dailey; and the noted comedy classic, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) as the elder daughter of the titular couple, Mr. and Mrs. Blandings (played by, respectively, Cary Grant and Myrna Loy). She would work with the silver screen's top movie stars over the years, including Gene Tierney and Joan Crawford, but once she outgrew her precociousness, her career began to fade away. She attempted TV with the short-lived series Doc Corkle (1952) and appeared as a feisty teen co-star opposite Gene Autry in his film oater Saginaw Trail (1953), but by 1954, after an unbilled part in Rogue Cop (1954), she was out of the business.

Marshall was forgotten until 2006 when -- five years after her passing -- news of her death on May 22, 2001 at age 68 from cancer became public. Although her potential was never fully utilized, she most certainly deserves a place in the Hollywood annals as one of filmdom's more talented young actors.

A native Ohioan, John Howard (born John R. Cox, Jr.) had no interest in working in theater until schoolmates at Cleveland's Western Reserve University turned him on to acting. After some work on his college stage, he made his movie debut in a bit part in Paramount's One Hour Late (1934) before moving up the Hollywood ladder to featured parts and ultimately landing his own series, the Bulldog Drummond mysteries. Decades later, when offers of work began to slow down, Howard went into teaching.

Best-known for his role as Ronald Colman's brother in director Frank Capra's classic Lost Horizon (1937), Howard later said he felt he did a bad job of playing the character: "Damn it, I thought I was too brash, too uncontrolled, too unbelievable. And I've wished always that I could go back and do it again."

Tom Smothers was born on 2 February 1937 in Governors Island, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967), The Informant! (2009) and Get to Know Your Rabbit (1972). He was married to Marcy Carriker, Rochelle Ruth Robley and Stephanie Rose Shorr. He died on 26 December 2023 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Charles Monroe Schulz (nicknamed "Sparky") was an American comic strip writer and artist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was primarily known for creating the long-running comic strip "Peanuts" (1950-2000), and serving as its sole artist for the strip's entire run. His comic strip was known for its "clean, minimalist drawings", its sarcastic humor, and the emotional honesty of its dialogue. By the time of Schulz's death in 2000, the comic strip had been published in 75 different countries, and had been translated into 21 languages. The comic strip has been adapted into 5 theatrical animated films, over 40 animated television specials, 6 television series, and 2 theatrical musicals. In addition, Schulz is credited with popularizing the format of the "four-panel gag strip". This format was eventually used by several comic strips of the post-World War II period.

In 1922, Schulz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota,. The city is occupying both banks of the Mississippi River. Schulz was the only child of Carl Schulz and Dena Halverson. His ancestry was German and Norwegian. His favorite comic strip during his childhood was "Barney Google" (1919-) by Billy DeBeck (1890-1942). Schulz was nick-named "Sparky" by his family, named after the race horse Spark Plug (also nicknamed "Sparky") in his favorite comic strip. He kept the nickname throughout his life.

Schulz started drawing as a hobby during his childhood. His favorite subject for drawings was the family dog, Spike. In 1937, Schulz submitted a drawing about Spike's unusual eating habits to the newspaper panel "Ripley's Believe It or Not!". This drawing was the first work by Schulz to be published in his lifetime.

Schulz received his primary education at the Richards Gordon Elementary School, located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He skipped two half-grades during his elementary school years. He subsequently was always the youngest student in his class while attending Central High School. The school was the oldest high school in the state of Minnesota, established in 1866. Schulz was reportedly a shy and timid adolescent boy.

In February 1943, Dena Halverson (Schultz's mother ) died due to cancer. Schulz was shocked, as he was particularly close to his mother. She had tried to keep her illness a secret, as she did not want her son to worry about her. Shortly after her death, Schulz was drafted for service in World War II. He served as a staff sergeant with the 20th Armored Division in Europe. , He was a squad leader on a .50 caliber machine gun team, but his team only experienced combat at the ending months of the war. At one point, Schulz realized that he had forgot to load his machine gun while noticing that a German soldier was approaching him. Fortunately for Schulz, the German soldier had no intention to fire at him, and voluntarily surrendered to the American unit.

Schulz returned to civilian life in Minnesota in late 1945. He was soon hired as a letterer by the comic magazine "Timeless Topix"'. In July 1946, Schulz was hired by the "Art Instruction Schools", a Minneapolis-based home study correspondence course. His job was to review and grade the work of the students. He continued doing so for several years.

Schulz created his first comic strip for "St. Paul Pioneer Press". It was the short-lived "Li'l Folks" (1947-1950). He introduced several ideas that he would later reuse in "Peanuts". The comic strip used the recurring name "Charlie Brown" for three different characters, featured a Snoopy-like dog called Rover, and introduced a well-dressed young boy who idolized Ludwig van Beethoven (like the "Peanuts" character Schroeder.) Schulz eventually quit working for this newspaper. His editors had repeatedly denied his requests for a pay rise, and had relegated the comic strip into the women's section of the newspaper (rather than publishing it alongside other comic strips). An attempted deal to syndicate the strip through the Newspaper Enterprise Association fell through.

In 1950, Schulz negotiated a deal for a new comic strip with the United Feature Syndicate. The Syndicate was interested in his ideas, but they rejected his proposed title of "Li'l Folks" for legal reasons. There was already a comic strip under the copyrighted title "Little Folks", and its writer Tack Knight had claimed exclusive rights. An executive came up with the idea to name the comic strip "Peanuts". The comic stream was named after the "peanut gallery", the audience of the television series "Howdy Doody" (1947-1960). Schulz agreed to the new name, though he grew to dislike it. He would prefer to name the strip after the name of one of its characters. But the name was kept.

The syndicated comic strip "Peanuts" was introduced on October 2, 1950, initially published by only 7 newspapers.: the "Chicago Tribune", the "Denver Post", the "Evening Chronicle", the "Globe-Times", the "Minneapolis Tribune," the "Seattle Times", and the "Washington Post". The first strip in the series introduced only three characters: the protagonist Charlie Brown and two female acquaintances, Shermy and Patty. The pet dog Snoopy was introduced on October 4, 1950., Most of the strips' regular characters were introduced in its first 25 years: Violet (in February 1951), Schroeder (in May 1951), Lucy (in March 1952), Linus (in September 1952), Pig-Pen (in July 1954), Sally (in August 1959), Frieda (in March 1961), Peppermint Patty (in August 1966), Franklin (in July 1968) Woodstock (introduced in March 1966; officially named in June 1970), Marcie (in July 1971), and Rerun (in March 1973).

Schulz started working on a Sunday version of "Peanuts" in January 1952. He created the religious-themed comic strip "Young Pillars" (1956-1965) for the magazine "Youth Magazine", a publication of the Church of God. Unusually for Scchulz's work, this strip featured adolescents instead of children.

Schulz and Jim Sasseville later co-created the sports-and-game-oriented comic strip "It's Only a Game" (1957-1959) in an art style similar to "Peanuts". The new strip was modestly successful, but Schulz found that in conflicted with his increasingly demanding schedule. He terminated the strip voluntarily.

In 1957, Schulz was hired as an illustrator for a volume of the book "Kids Say the Darndest Things" by Art Linkletter (1912-2010). He illustrated a second volume of the work in 1962. In 1964, Schulz illustrated a collection of letters, "Dear President Johnson" by Bill Adler. These were Schulz's only efforts as a book illustrator.

For most of the 1950s, Schulz and his first wife Joyce Halverson lived primarily in Minnesota and Colorado. He primarily worked from home, or from a rented office room. In 1958, Schulz and his family moved Sebastopol, California. There Schulz built his first artist's studio. That studio burned down in 1966. Schutz later relocated to Santa Rosa, California, where he build a second artist's studio in 1969. He continued working there for the rest of his life.

By the autumn of 1970, Schulz had started contemplating divorce. He had an extramarital affair with Tracey Claudius, a woman who was only 25-years-old and was 23 years younger than him. He eventually received his divorce in 1972, but by then his affair with Claudius had ended In 1973, Schutz married his second wife Jean Forsyth Clyde. She had a daughter from a previous wedding, whom Schulz had already met. Their marriage lasted for 27 years and ended with his death.

In 1981, Schulz underwent heart bypass surgery. His hospitalization was considered newsworthy, and President Ronald Reagan personally phoned him to wish for his recovery. During the 1980s, Schulz found his hands shaking while drawing. He was eventually diagnosed as suffering from "essential tremor", a neurological disorder involving involuntary rhythmic contractions and relaxations of muscle groups. He received medication for his condition, but he insisted on continuing to draw "Peanuts" without assistants. This resulted in changes in his drawing style, with increasingly shakier lines in the comic strip.

In May 1988, Schulz was in the news over his personal life, something unusual in his career. Two masked men had entered his home through an unlocked door and attempted to kidnap his wife Jean. They fled empty-handed when one of Schulz's daughters arrived for a visit. The police suspected that the criminals were interested in ransom money, but no arrests were made.

In November 1999, Schulz experienced several small strokes and a blocked aorta. While undergoing a medical examination, his doctors realized that he was suffering from a previously undiagnosed condition: colon cancer. He started treatment with chemotherapy, but this caused his vision to blur. He was unable to keep drawing, so he announced his retirement on December 14, 1999. United Features retained ownership of the comic strip "Peanuts", but Schulz did not want to be replace on the production of the strip. Based on his insistence, the strip was scheduled to end on February 13, 2000 (the publication date for the last available comic strip).

On February 12, 2000, Schulz died in his sleep at his home in Santa Rosa, California. He was 77-years-old, and his death was caused by colorectal cancer. His comic strip ended on February 13, as scheduled. On May 27, 2000, Schulz was honored with tributes in over 100 different comic strips. Cartoonists devoted the day to homages of Schulz's style or appearances by his famous characters.

Schulz is long gone, but his characters from "Peanuts" have remained popular. Several animated adaptations of the comic strip were created in the first decades of the 21st century, and reprints of his work were still available in various forms. Schulz has been cited as an influence by several younger cartoonists, such as Jim Davis and Matt Groening.

Maurice Marsac was born on 23 March 1915 in Croix, Nord, France. He was an actor, known for The Jerk (1979), Against All Flags (1952) and The Caddy (1953). He was married to Melanie Marsac. He died on 6 May 2007 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

A well-rounded and well-respected actress of the stage, particularly on Broadway and London's West End, actress Irene Dailey was better known, however, as the annoyingly neurotic patrician Liz Matthews on daytime's Another World (1964), a role that made her a household face, if not quite a name.

The daughter of Daniel James (manager of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan) and Helen (Ryan) Dailey, she was born on September 12, 1920, in New York City. Her older brother (by nearly 5 years), Dan Dailey, became the breezy, popular song-and-dance man of 40s and 50s musical films. From the time she was 8 years old, Irene was appearing in vaudeville shows and, greatly influenced by her actor brother, toiled in stock and various touring shows as a teenager in order to gain experience. Eventually studying under Herbert Berghof and Uta Hagen, she later taught acting at the Berghof studio before operating her own School of Actors Co. in New York for over a decade (from 1961).

On Broadway during the 1940s and 1950s, she performed in short-lived productions of "Nine Girls", "Truckline Cafe", "Springtime Folly", "Idiot's Delight" and "Miss Lonelyhearts" before earning accolades in London for her work in "Tomorrow--In Pictures (1960). With that success, she was cast and earned rave reviews for her sensitive portrayal as Nettie, the mother of a dysfunctional family in the war-themed drama, "The Subject Was Roses", in 1964, co-starring Jack Albertson and Martin Sheen. The show itself earned a Tony Award.

When it was time to adapt the play to the screen, however, Irene had little film clout and was the only player of the three not given the opportunity to transfer her part to film. Patricia Neal was given that distinction and handed a nomination at Oscar time for her fine work. This lost chance could have been the beginning of a brilliant career in film for Irene. As such, while she never did make a strong dent in movies, she did appear in character form in a handful of features, including No Way to Treat a Lady (1968), Daring Game (1968), Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Grissom Gang (1971), The Amityville Horror (1979) and Stacking (1987).

She began pursuing on-camera work in middle age. Her strong suit was in soapy drama and she tended to play unsympathetic on TV. She guested throughout the 60s on prime-time TV, with roles on such popular series as The Defenders (1961), The Twilight Zone (1959), Dr. Kildare (1961), Ben Casey (1961) and The Doctors and the Nurses (1962), among others. It was daytime drama, however, that made the most use of her talents. After a short-lived role on The Edge of Night (1956), she took over the role of the brittle, manipulative aunt, Liz Matthews, in 1974, on Another World (1964) and was alternately loved and despised by the show's fans on and off for over 20 years, earning a daytime Emmy in the process in 1979.

Winning a Drama Desk Award for her stage work in "Rooms" in 1966 and serving as a replacement in the successful comedy, "You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running", the septuagenarian made a return to Broadway in the 1990s, with the plays "Lost in Yonkers" (as the grandmother) and "The Father". She died of colon cancer at a health care facility in Santa Rosa, California on September 24, 2008 at age 88. She never married and had no children. Brother Dan died thirty years earlier.

Robert J. Mauch was born on 6 July 1921 in Peoria, Illinois, USA. He was an editor and actor, known for The Prince and the Pauper (1937), Penrod's Double Trouble (1938) and Warner Brothers Presents (1955). He was married to Georgia "Gigi" Shattuck Culhane. He died on 15 October 2007 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Richard Kuss was born on 17 July 1927 in Astoria, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Deer Hunter (1978), Warlock (1989) and Search for Tomorrow (1951). He was married to Roberta A Luhman. He died on 27 November 1999 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Dr. Toad was born on 14 June 1938 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). He was married to Frankie Williams. He died on 14 August 2007 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Mark Felt grew up in a modest Idaho home. He graduated from the University of Idaho and attended George Washington University Law School. Felt joined the FBI in 1942 and worked his way up to become assistant director to J. Edgar Hoover in 1965, succeeding to the No. 2 position of Associate Director upon Hoover's death. In 1972, after a break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex, the FBI began investigating the White House for potential cover-up and surveillance activities. Two reporters at the Washington Post, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, pieced together the Watergate conspiracy with the help of an anonymous informant named 'Deep Throat.' Their reporting eventually led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974, and the indictment of over two dozen people in the Nixon administration. Woodward and Bernstein, however, kept Deep Throat's identity a closely-guarded secret.

For three decades, the identity of Deep Throat was modern journalism's greatest unsolved mystery. Dozens of books speculated on Deep Throat's identity, and a long list of names was guessed over the years. As for Felt, he retired from the FBI and moved to northern California. Though he had originally planned for his secret identity to be revealed only after his death, he came forward at his family's urging on May 31, 2005 in a Vanity Fair article. Felt revealed, at the age of 91, that he was the infamous Deep Throat.

Jodean Lawrence was born on 12 November 1932 in Sacramento, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Airport (1970), The Rockford Files (1974) and Adam-12 (1968). She was married to Tony Russel and Michael Lawrence. She died on 17 March 2010 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Del Russel was born on 27 September 1952 in Pasadena, California, USA. He was an actor, known for From Beyond (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Men Into Space (1959). He died on 7 February 2015 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Claramae Turner was born on 28 October 1920 in Dinuba, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Carousel (1956), Festival (1960) and NBC Television Opera Theatre (1949). She was married to Frank Hoffman and Robert Turner. She died on 18 May 2013 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Ben Sharpsteen was born on 4 November 1895 in Tacoma, Washington, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Dumbo (1941), Pinocchio (1940) and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). He died on 20 December 1980 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Jim Ferry was born on 19 November 1942. He was married to Penny Ferry. He died on 27 January 2024 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Clem Beauchamp was born on 26 August 1898 in Bloomfield, Iowa, USA. He was a production manager and producer, known for High Noon (1952), It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). He was married to Sydney Agnes Hein and Anita Garvin. He died on 14 November 1992 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Eva Ralf was born on 14 March 1926 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress, known for Passport to Danger (1954), Whirlybirds (1957) and Crusader (1955). She was married to John Howard and ??? Jaworsky. She died on 3 May 1998 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Sam Peeples began his writing career with Western novels but later became a television script writer and series creator. His western novels include The Hanging Hills 1953); Johnny Sundance 1953); Desert Showdown (1954); The Marshal Of Medicine Bend (1954); The Lobo Horseman (1955); The Call of the Gun (1955); The Man from Andersonville (1956); Terror At Tres Alamos (1956); and Doc Colt (1957). He later wrote The Man Who Died Twice (1976). In science fiction circles, he is best remembered as the originator of the now famous "Star Trek" phrase, 'Where No Man Has Gone Before' as the title of the series' second pilot.

Nick Gravenites was born on 2 October 1938 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a composer, known for Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), Chi-Raq (2015) and Steelyard Blues (1973). He was married to Marcia Lloyd, Diane Tribuno and Linda Gravenites. He died on 18 September 2024 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Byron Paul was born on 20 April 1920 in Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA. He was a director and producer, known for The Jane Froman Show (1952), The Julius LaRosa Show (1955) and Playhouse 90 (1956). He died on 24 September 2004 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Gabrielle Upton, Canada, 1922, was a screenwriter for various motion pictures and daytime serials and an actress. Ms. Upton was head writer and thrice nominated for Writer's Guild of America Outstanding Writing Achievement Awards for the daytime serials Love of Life (under pseudonym Gillian Houghton) and the Secret Storm. She has over forty prime-time TV scripts to her credit as well. Ms. Upton specialized in medical, legal and suspense shows. Her first major motion picture solo writer's credit was for the initial "Gidget" movie with Sandra Dee in 1959. This movie was followed by several more including Escape From East Berlin in 1962 and The Beach Boys: An American Band in 1985.

Artist, dancer, and bohemian Vito Paulekas was one of the more colorful figures to gain prominence in the early 1960's Los Angeles hippie freak scene. Vito was born Vitautus Alphonsus Paulekas on May 20, 1913 in Lowell, Massachusetts. The son of Lithuanian immigrant parents, Paulekas spent a year and a half at a reformatory school as a teenager as well as was a marathon dancer during the Great Depression and spent time in jail after being convicted of armed robbery in 1938 before eventually joining the US Merchant Marines in 1942.

Vito moved to Los Angeles, California in 1946 and set up shop in a commercial building on the corner of Beverly Boulevard and Laurel Avenue owned by Jacob Kubernick in the mid 1950's. Vito's storefront home and studio actually opened onto Laurel Avenue, not Beverly Boulevard. Paulekas converted the basement of the building into an art studio where he gave clay modeling lessons and ran dance classes. Vito married his wife Sue Schaffer (aka Szou) in 1961.

In 1963 Paulekas, Szou, and their friend Carl Franzoni began attending clubs with a group of self-styled "freaks" who were well known for their free-form dancing and semi-communal lifestyle. Vito offered rehearsal space to The Byrds in 1964. Franzoni and a troupe of Vito's free-form dancers, accompanied the group on their 1965 nationwide tour. Vito and Szou were unable to join the band and freaks on tour as Paulekas had opted to remain in Los Angeles to conduct his sculpture classes, at the time his main source of income. (Love and Arthur Lee also used Paulekas's studio for rehearsals.) Paulekas and his troupe of dancers were a popular attraction in various Los Angeles clubs in the early to late-1960's and could also be seen dancing at concerts held by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. Vito recorded and released the single "Where It's At" in 1966 and contributed to the album "Freak Out!" by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. Moreover, Paulekas appeared as himself in several documentaries.

Vito's reign as Los Angeles' King of the Freaks came to an end in December 1968 Vito was forced to leave his studio/home as his lease with Kubernick specifically disallowed children above the age of one year old from living on the property (this clause was added by Kubernick following the accidental death of Vito's son, Godot, following a fall through a glass skylight covered by roofing material). At Vito's suggestion Kubernick leased Vito's studio/home to Ken Patterson who established a short lived artists commune along with Ricky Applebaum, Randy Black Fox, and David Doty following Vito's departure.

Rather than reinvent himself in Los Angeles, Vito made the decision to relocate to Haiti before moving a second time to Jamaica. Paulekas returned to California and settled in the small town of Cotati, California, where within a year he was joined by Franzoni, Patterson and over a dozen others from Vito's Los Angeles days. Paulekas and Franzoni not only established the Freestore street theatre and performance group, but also built a bandstand for the town and contributed sculptures. Vito divorced his wife Szou in 1975; the couple had four children. Paulekas died from a blood disease at age 79 on October 25, 1992.

Hal Hudson was born on 8 January 1908 in Illinois, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for Black Saddle (1959), Empire (1962) and A Tragedy at Midnight (1942). He died on 1 February 1999 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.