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- Actor
- Soundtrack
Bill Quinn was born on 6 May 1912 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) and The Birds (1963). He was married to Mary Catherine Roden. He died on 29 April 1994 in Camarillo, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Fewer dames were tougher on the 40s and 50s screen than leggy (5'9") "B" star Adele Jergens, the tough-talking, plump-cheeked peroxide blonde who gave her fair share of tawdry trouble in backstage dramas, film noir, crime potboilers, and adventure yarns. She was just as headstrong at trying to bust out of the chorus lines and cheesecake parts to become a topnotch "A" actress draw. She failed in the latter but nevertheless left a respectable Hollywood legacy for the host of hard-as-nails babes that did leave an impression.
Born on November 26, 1917, in Brooklyn New York, the youngest of four to working class Norwegian parents, she was christened Adele Louisa Jurgens (some sources say Jurgenson) and started her youth as a sports-minded tomboy before setting her young teen sights on an entertainment career as a dancer. After years of study (she earned a scholarship) at a Manhattan dance studio and following her graduation from Grover Cleveland High School, the knockout-looking 18-year-old found her way into the Broadway chorus line (billed as Adele Jurgens, her real name) of the Moss Hart/Cole Porter musical "Jubilee!", which introduced the classic Porter songs "Begin the Beguine" and "Just One of Those Things" and starred Melville Cooper and Mary Boland as the King and Queen and a young Montgomery Clift as Prince Peter.
The John Robert Powers Agency saw in Adele top runway model potential and quickly signed up the gorgeous girl and her gams. She willingly played the starlet game by being squired around town by big Broadway stars and handsome male eligibles, and finding promotional titles to further attract pin-up attention -- "Miss World's Fairest" at the New York 1939 World's Fair, as well as "The Champagne Blonde" and "The Girl with the Million Dollar Legs". She was even dubbed "The Number One Showgirl in New York City" at one point. By this time she had revised the spelling of her last name for the stage (Jergens). In between modeling assignments, Adele found dance work in other in cabaret revues, nightclubs, in the Rockette chorus line, and in such Broadway shows as Cole Porter's "Leave It to Me!" (1938) again starring Gaxton and Moore and co-starring "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" singing star Mary Martin; Cole Porter's "DuBarry Was a Lady" (1939) with Ethel Merman belting out "Well, Did You Evah?" and "Friendship"; "Louisiana Purchase" (in a replacement role) (1940), "Banjo Eyes" (1941) starring Eddie Cantor and the burlesque revue "Star and Garter" (1942) in which Adele had a featured role while understudying one of its headliners, Gypsy Rose Lee. She went on for Ms. Lee, Hollywood took immediate notice with Twentieth Century-Fox signing her up.
Adele started at the bottom rung at Fox with the usual decorative showgirl or good time girl parts in the musicals Hello Frisco, Hello (1943), Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943), The Gang's All Here (1943)and Pin Up Girl (1944). When Fox dropped her option she was snatched up by Columbia in a seven-year contract. After minor parts again in the musicals Dancing in Manhattan (1944), Tonight and Every Night (1945) and State Fair (1945), she was entrusted with the lead femme role as Princess Armina of Baghdad in the Eastern adventure A Thousand and One Nights (1945) with Phil Silvers and handsome Cornel Wilde as Aladdin. She also displayed a brusque comic flair as the aptly-named Allura in the Rosalind Russell comedy She Wouldn't Say Yes (1945) as an hilariously-accented blonde briefly competing for Russell's man Lee Bowman. She top-lined her own musical albeit the quickly forgotten When a Girl's Beautiful (1947) which co-starred Marc Platt and Stephen Dunne.
After a lull, the former WWII pin-up (once nick-named "The All-American Girl" by the men of the 504th parachute infantry) was now being billed by Columbia as "The Eyeful" and returned to the musical genre with the fantasy Down to Earth (1947). Rita Hayworth plays a heavenly muse who, disturbed by a Broadway musical below the clouds that is mocking Greek mythology. Turning mortal, she takes things in her own hands by turning mortal and (not easily) replacing the show's tough-talking original goddess Adele Jergens in order to manipulate the proceedings. Adele gets to tap and sing (dubbed by Kay Starr) before she is fired.
Outside of musicals, the hard-looking blonde (especially when her hair was let down), Adele started making headway in crime dramas and film noir starting with a nifty featured role as a glamour girl in The Corpse Came C.O.D. (1947). She followed that with hard-boiled roles in I Love Trouble (1948), The Dark Past (1948), Edge of Doom (1950), Armored Car Robbery (1950) and Side Street (1949). For the most part, however, it was the usual over-served hash that, while keeping her busy, also kept her locked in the "B" support ranks -- The Prince of Thieves (1948), Law of the Barbary Coast (1949), Slightly French (1949), Make Believe Ballroom (1949), Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952), Somebody Loves Me (1952) -- when not leading in inconsequential material such as Ladies of the Chorus (1948) (as the mother of Marilyn's Monroe's character), The Mutineers (1949), The Woman from Tangier (1948), The Crime Doctor's Diary (1949) and the serial Radar Secret Service (1950).
Treasure of Monte Cristo (1949) was notable for the casting of Adele and future husband Glenn Langan. One might think that gorgeous Adele would end up a divorcée many times over, but she and Langan, who wed on October 6, 1951, stayed married until his death almost 40 years later. The 1950s, following good parts (Sugarfoot (1951)) but far more routine ones (Beware of Blondie (1950), The Traveling Saleswoman (1950), Blues Busters (1950)), Adele moved into TV work. After having son Tracy in 1953, Adele took a brief break from her career, then resumed it and found work on such programs as "Dangerous Assignment", "The Abbott & Costello Show", "Mr. and Mrs. North", "Make Room for Daddy", "The Public Defender", "I Married Joan", "My Favorite Husband", and "The Burns & Allen Show". Co-starring on film with husband Langan again in The Big Chase (1954), Jergens worked for a couple more years then left the business as the quality of her movies diminished with tawdry roles in Fireman Save My Child (1954), The Miami Story (1954), The Lonesome Trail (1955), Girls in Prison (1956) and Runaway Daughters (1956). She never returned but husband continued his career until the early 1970s; he also dabbled in real estate.
Glenn Langan died of cancer in 1991 and their only child, 48-year-old Tracy, who had become a film technician, died in 2001 of a brain tumor, which devastated the actress. Her health declined quickly after her son's death; she died the following year of pneumonia on November 22, 2002, just days before her 85th birthday.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Christmas trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, gained experience in English repertory theatre in 1936, and had a principal role in the London production of Noël Coward's "Bitter Sweet" in the 1930s. During the Second World War, he was a member of Royal Air Force production units and performed in the RAF's Gang Show. After moving to Canada in 1948, he started a long association with television comedians Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster, playing the character Madam Hooperdink. His own show "Christmas is Coming" toured Canada in the 1950s. He was artistic director at the Ottawa Repertory Company in 1954 and ran the Peterborough Summer Theatre that year. He began a long association with Canada's Stratford Festival in 1957, performing in 12 seasons and 21 Shakespearean productions until 1970. It was Christmas and a group of veteran actors like William Hutt, Tony Van Bridge, Jean Gascon, Douglas Rain, Amelia Hall, and Mervyn Blake (among others) who helped define Stratford in its early years. His final appearance at Stratford was 1987, when he played Dogberry in "Much Ado About Nothing." Christmas also had associations over the years with the Canadian Players, San Diego's Globe Theatre, and the drama department at the University of California at San Diego. He and his first wife had two children (Robin and Stephen) two children with his second wife, six grandchildren.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Mary Jeanette Moran was born in Clinton, Iowa. The daughter of Louise Moran, a dancer with the famous Denishawn Dancers, and the celebrated artist Earl Moran, whose paintings graced many a barracks wall during World War II. One of Earl's favorite models was Norma Jean Baker, who later changed her name to Marilyn Monroe. Peggy never modeled for Earl, although a publicity still of the two of them was taken in Earl's atelier with Peggy posing.
From early childhood, she was called by the nickname, "Peggy". Peggy's mother took six-year-old Peggy to the office of Derio, a famous psychic of the time. Louise wanted her fortune told. Derio did not have the time for them but, when he came out of his office into the hall, he passed Peggy and her mother. Looking down at Peggy, he caressed her cheek, and said, "Hmm... an actress". From that moment on, Peggy knew she was destined to act.
Peggy appeared in some plays at school. She attended Hollywood High, where she was squired by Mike Stokey, founder of the original TV show, Stump the Stars (1947). She also attended John Marshall High for a time. There, she appeared in every play or show she could.
Hollywood soon beckoned. Peggy went to the front door of Warner Brothers and told the startled guard that she wanted to get into the lot because she was going to be a movie star. The guard introduced her to a producer who introduced her to an agent, and her career was started. She acted in a few clunkers at the beginning, playing mostly bit parts and minor roles. Among them was Ernst Lubitsch's masterpiece, Ninotchka (1939), in which Peggy appeared in two scenes as a cute cigarette girl. Later, when the picture was released, it appeared in Clinton, Iowa's only movie theatre under the marquee: "Clinton's Own Peggy Moran starring in Ninotchka (1939), with Greta Garbo". Peggy moved from Warner Brothers to Universal Pictures in the late 1930s. In between, she played the female lead in a Gene Autry western entitled Rhythm of the Saddle (1938). Working now at Universal, she met the producer, Joe Pasternak, who introduced her to his director, Henry Koster. It was love at first sight. Henry cast her first in a Deanna Durbin film, First Love (1939). She played Deanna's schoolmate. In the meantime, Universal was keeping Peggy busy starring in many of their "B" films. During this time, also, she starred in her most famous movie, the one for which she would always be remembered, The Mummy's Hand (1940). Even up to her passing, she received four or five fan letters a week from people who wanted photos of her from that film though it was produced over sixty years ago. Henry had discovered two comedians, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, and their first movie, One Night in the Tropics (1940), starred Alan Young, Nancy Kelly, Robert Cummings, and Peggy Moran. Henry did not direct that one, or any other Abbott and Costello film, but he was responsible for their introduction to Hollywood, and Peggy was their first film character foil. Peggy was also tapped to star with Franchot Tone in Trail of the Vigilantes (1940), a Western that had all the other contract players from Universal, whether they were cowboys or not, including Broderick Crawford and Mischa Auer.
A year or so later, Henry and Peggy were married. Conrad Veidt was best man at the wedding in Las Vegas. Peggy was soon pregnant with her first son. Just after that, she was hired by Republic Pictures to play the female lead, opposite Roy Rogers, in King of the Cowboys (1943). Henry encouraged her to take the role even though she was pregnant. After that, whenever she saw the movie with her son, Nicolas Koster, she always told him, "You were there!".
That was Peggy's last film appearance except for some very recent films about stars of the early era. Peggy's life with Henry was the picture of marital bliss. They had two children, Nicolas Koster, who also acted in several of Henry's films, and Peter Koster, who works in Contra Costa County. Henry passed away in 1988. Peggy was quite active during these last fourteen years, playing billiards, dancing, entertaining, and traveling around the country to attend movie nostalgia conventions, where she invariably amazed and impressed everyone from hardened veterans of movies to new fans, with her wit, charm, intelligence and beauty. She was also active in her church, the Camarillo Church of Religious Science, where she studied to become a practitioner. On 26 August 2002, she was being driven from a friend's apartment in Ventura back to her apartment in Woodland Hills when the driver lost control of the car on the freeway. Peggy never recovered from the terrible damage that accident caused. She finally left us on 24 October, one day after her 84th birthday.- Stunts
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Kym Stys was born on 8 December 1973 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. She was an actress, known for Vacancy (2007), Piranha 3D (2010) and Transformers (2007). She died on 12 February 2024 in Camarillo, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lovely, sparkling blonde musical actress and dancer Gretchen Wyler was born Gretchen Patricia Weinecke on February 16, 1932, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, the daughter of Louis Gustave Weinecke, a gasoline engineer, and Peggy (nee Highley) Weinecke. She graduated from her home town high school and went on to study dance with June Runyon in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Making her debut with the St. Louis Municipal Opera in 1950 as part of the ballet ensemble, she moved to New York where she found a year-long job as a chorus dancer on Broadway in "Where's Charley?" in 1951. She then played in the chorus of "Guys and Dolls" the following season. In 1955 Gretchen earned the break she was looking for when she won the Broadway role of Janice Dayton in "Silk Stockings" and was the recipient of the ("supporting actress") Outer Critics Circle Award for her provocative, scene-stealing work. Other alluring Broadway roles in musicals followed with Lola in "Damn Yankees" and Rosie in "Bye Bye Birdie". In 1968, she made her London debut in the title role of "Sweet Charity" and stayed with the role for over a year. She has practically run the musical comedy gamut over time appearing in various stock productions, both singing and non-singing, of "Sly Fox" (Drama Desk nomination), "The Gingerbread Lady", "The Man Who Came to Dinner", "Redhead", "Annie Get Your Gun", "Kismet", "Applause", "Born Yesterday", "Call Me Madam", "A Hatful of Rain", "Bus Stop", "Annie", "Can-Can", "Mame", "42nd Street" and the musical version of "Destry Rides Again".
Making her TV debut in 1956 on "The Colgate Comedy Hour", Gretchen appeared occasionally on such light-hearted shows as "Sergeant Bilko" and in the musical variety format, notably with Bob Crosby. Gretchen did not make her film debut until middle-age with The Devil's Brigade (1968) starring William Holden, and went on to play Goldie Hawn's aunt in the film Private Benjamin (1980). She also toured extensively with her own nightclub act, in concerts and with her one-woman show "Broadway Greats and the Songs That Made Them Famous".
In later years she guested more and more on TV, including "Who's the Boss?," "Designing Women," "Love & War," "The 5 Mrs. Buchanans," "Judging Amy" and, notably, the classic "Friends" sitcom (hilarious as the skin-flint singing widow/hostess who tries to stiff Monica and Phoebe for their catering services at her husband's funeral reception). Outside of some prime-time appearances in "Judging Amy" and "Providence", she has also appeared in such daytime soaps as "Search for Tomorrow" and "Somerset". In 1997 she ended her stage career right where she began -- at the St. Louis Municipal Opera -- playing the irrepressible Dolly Levi. She was last seen on TV as a guest on an episode of the TV series "State of Grace" in 2002.
Away of the limelight, she produced the off-Broadway play "The Ballad of Johnny Pot" in 1971 but, more importantly, dedicated her life's passion to animals as a noted activist. In 1968 she founded a shelter for animals in upstate New York and was on the boards of several humane and wildlife organizations, also sponsoring animal welfare legislation. She was the founder of the Genesis Awards for animal protection. In 2005, Gretchen was inducted into the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame for her dedicated service to animals.
Divorced (with no children) since 1968, Gretchen shared her home with several animals including dogs, cats and horses. She died at age 75 on May 27, 2007, from complications of breast cancer. That year, in tribute, the first Gretchen Wyler Award was given to former Beatle Paul McCartney.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
John Hubbard was born on 14 April 1914 in East Chicago, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for The Tall T (1957), Dramatic School (1938) and One Million B.C. (1940). He was married to Lois. He died on 6 November 1988 in Camarillo, California, USA.- Thomas Glenn Langan spent most of his early life in his home town of Denver, Colorado. After completing his education he acted in local repertory companies before moving to New York. In 1942, he appeared on Broadway opposite Luise Rainer in J.M. Barrie's "Kiss for Cinderella". He garnered good critical reviews which led to a contract with 20th Century Fox the following year. With many top leading men of the era away on wartime duties, the tall, muscular Langan filled the gap in several A-grade productions.
Langan was usually seen in the role of the stalwart professional man, appearing to best advantage as a French professor in the romantic Margie (1946), a devoted young doctor protecting Gene Tierney from the evil machinations of Vincent Price in Dragonwyck (1946), and as one of the psychiatrists looking after demented patient Olivia de Havilland in the The Snake Pit (1948). Langan was also gainfully employed in escapist adventure, essaying a square-jawed privateer captain in Forever Amber (1947) and starring as Edmund Dantes -- descendant of the original protagonist of Alexandre Dumas -- in the updated and modernised, Treasure of Monte Cristo (1949).
In spite of these boosts to his career, his sturdy good looks and rugged appeal, Langan's popularity gradually waned by the early 1950s. He spent the next decade appearing on various television episodes and eventually achieved a kind of cult status as the irradiated 60-foot hero of Bert I. Gordon's often hilarious schlock sci-fi The Amazing Colossal Man (1957). After winding down his screen career in the 60s, Langan re-invented himself as a successful real estate salesman. He was married for forty years to the actress Adele Jergens. - Director
- Writer
- Producer
Henry Koster was born Herman Kosterlitz in Berlin, Germany, on May 1, 1905. His maternal grandfather was a famous operatic tenor Julius Salomon (who died of tuberculosis in the 1880s). His father was a salesman of ladies unmentionables who left the family while Henry was at a young age, leaving him to support the family. He still managed to finish gymnasium (high school) in Berlin while working as a short-story writer and cartoonist. He was introduced to movies in 1910 when his uncle Richard opened a movie theater in Berlin and his mother went there every day to play the piano to accompany the films. Henry went with her--day care being nonexistent then--and had to sit for a couple of hours a day staring at the movie screen.
He achieved success as a short-story writer at age 17, resulting in his being hired by a Berlin movie company as a scenarist. He became an assistant to director Curtis Bernhardt. Bernhardt fell sick one day and asked Henry to direct (this was around 1931 or 1932). He had directed two films in Berlin for Aafa when Adolf Hitler came to power. He was in the midst of directing The Private Secretary Gets Married (1933) at that point, and having already been the victim of anti-Semitism, he knew he had to leave Germany, and soon. Any doubts he entertained about leaving were erased when, at a bank on his lunch hour one day, a Nazi SA officer insulted him; Henry hit the Nazi so hard he knocked him out. He proceeded to go directly to the railroad station and took a train for France. Upon arriving in France he was rehired by Bernhardt (who had left earlier). Eventually Henry went to Budapest and met and married Kató Király (1934). It was there he met producer Joe Pasternak, who represented Universal Pictures in Europe, and directed four films for him.
In 1936 he was signed to a contract with Universal and brought to Hollywood with Pasternak, several other refugees and his wife. At first he had some troubles at the studio (he didn't speak English), but eventually convinced Universal to let him make Three Smart Girls (1936) with Deanna Durbin and coached Durbin, who was 14 years old. The picture was a huge success and pulled Universal from the verge of bankruptcy. His second film, One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937) with Durbin and Leopold Stokowski, put Universal, Durbin, Pasternak and himself on top. He went on to do numerous musicals and family comedies during the late 1930s and early 1940s, many with Betty Grable, Durbin and other musical stars of the era. He stayed at Universal until 1941, then worked for MGM, and around 1948 moved over to 20th Century-Fox. He was nominated for an Academy Award for The Bishop's Wife (1947).
In 1950 he directed what was his biggest success to date--the James Stewart comedy Harvey (1950), but, although many in the industry thought it would be nominated for Best Picture, it wasn't. He directed the first American film in which Richard Burton appeared, My Cousin Rachel (1952), then was assigned by Fox to direct its first CinemaScope picture, The Robe (1953), also with Burton, which was a tremendous success. He directed a few more costume dramas, such as Désirée (1954) with Marlon Brando, then went back to family comedies and musicals, such as Flower Drum Song (1961) for Universal. After he finished The Singing Nun (1966) he retired from the film business to Leisure Village, Camarillo, CA, to indulge his lifelong interest in painting. He did a series of portraits of the movie stars with whom he worked.- One of two siblings born in Gulfport, Mississippi, to Edwina and Robert Swayze Neyland, Anne had entered her first beauty pageant at the age of sixteen on the way to a successful modelling career. When she was noticed by Hollywood in 1955, she was said to have held an impressive 30 titles to her name, including "Miss Texas'"and "Miss Body Beautiful". Although briefly glimpsed in the chorus line of Singin' in the Rain (1952) , she was properly 'introduced' some five years later as a newcomer to the screen in André De Toth's Copenhagen-set film noir Hidden Fear (1957) (playing John Payne's sumptuously attired girlfriend).
Within months, Anne was signed by MGM and cast as 'the other girl' in -- arguably -- Elvis Presley's most famous picture, Jailhouse Rock (1957) (she also briefly dated Presley at this time). Apparently, the studio did not know what to do with her after that, since she next found herself at AIP, starring in a decidedly low-budget affair directed by schlockmaster Edward L. Cahn. Motorcycle Gang (1957) turned out a trendy, but simply-plotted B-grader aimed at juvenile audiences. That pretty much wrapped up her film career. She tinkered around Hollywood as a TV guest star (The Texan (1958), Yancy Derringer (1958), Sea Hunt (1958)) for another couple of years before calling it quits in 1960. At the beginning of the new decade, she briefly attracted some off-screen newspaper headlines involving assorted marital and extra-marital affairs before gradually fading from the scene. Anne died in Camarillo, California, in April 2019 aged 84. - James Gallery was born on 24 March 1935 in Auburn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Mr. Mom (1983), Sour Grapes (1998) and Salem's Lot (1979). He died on 5 February 2001 in Camarillo, California, USA.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Roxanne Tunis was born on 13 April 1930 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for Blue City (1986). She was married to Jack Watson Scheck Jr.. She died on 23 June 2023 in Camarillo, California, USA.- Actor
- Stunts
Orphaned at twelve, Sitka caught the acting bug while living with a priest in Pittsburgh. He rode the rails as a hobo for years during the Depression before arriving in Hollywood in 1936. Theatre work, including directing, eventually brought him to the attention of a talent scout, who contracted him to Columbia Studios. Famous for his character roles in slapstick comedy (he claims to have appeared in 450 movies), he became a regular in shorts and feature films with the Three Stooges, making thirty-five shorts with the boys before 1958. He holds the further distinction of appearing with each of the six Stooges (Moe, Shemp, and Curly Howard; Larry Fine; Joe Besser; and Joe DeRita). Sitka's most famous role, as a justice of the peace who begins every service with the words, "Hold hands, you love birds", brought him lasting fame among Stooge fans, who would sometimes ask him to repeat the phrase during their own wedding ceremonies.- Pati Behrs was born on 13 February 1922 in Constantinople, Turkey. She was an actress, known for Apartment for Peggy (1948) and The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949). She was married to Lucius Lindley, John Derek and Gogi Tchitchinadze. She died on 4 July 2004 in Camarillo, California, USA.
- Stunts
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
Mickey Gilbert was born on 17 April 1936 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an assistant director and actor, known for The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Waterworld (1995) and The Blues Brothers (1980). He was married to Yvonne Yrigoyen. He died on 5 February 2024 in Camarillo, California, USA.- Theodore Lorch was born on 29 September 1873 in Springfield, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for The Last of the Mohicans (1920), Half-Wits Holiday (1947) and Ginsberg the Great (1927). He was married to Diana Christiansen, Jeanette ?, Cecil and Mary. He died on 12 November 1947 in Camarillo, California, USA.
- Ilka Windish has played many dramatic roles in her acting career but none outweighs the fascinating drama of her own life. She was impressed by both Germans and Russians before escaping to the United States.
Ilka was born in Vienna as Ilonka Katerina Gerta Maria Theresa Windisch. She was 12 when Hitler invaded Austria (1938), and was studying to be an actress when Hitler decided his troops on the Russian front needed the lilt of Viennese laughter in entertainment. As an entertainer she was sent to the Leningrad sector, along with almost two dozen other students. She was reported to have said, "We were conscripted like soldiers and had to take the oath of allegiance to Hitler. This meant we could be shot if we deserted." For over six months she sang and danced and "died a little" every time applause was drowned out by the booming of the front-line guns.
Returning to Vienna, she won a contract from the Viennese Film Company and starred in eight films, until 1943 brought a change at the studio. Things were going so badly with the Nazis that the studio was converted into a factory, and all contractees were put to work making uniforms and other war apparel. The end of the war brought the Russians to Vienna. Ilka's film company was reestablished, but the performing personnel were "under contract" to the government-operated Cabaret Simplicissimum. She sang and acted for her supper - "mostly lard, flour, and bread".
She met an American war correspondent, Joseph Israels. They wed in 1946 and settled down in a New York apartment in 1947. She studied English, became miserably homesick and took Israels' suggestion that "an actress should act." She acted in a play, "Chameleon," appeared on Hollywood's Screen Test show, and then she and Joe went back to Vienna. They produced a movie in which Ilka starred, and she appeared in other films. Again they returned to New York together, where Israels suddenly died of a heart attack.
To earn money quickly, Ilka became a fashion model, which led to television acting again and to the show, "Studio One." The producer was Felix Jackson and they fell in love. They were married in 1955, and a son, Lawrence, was born to them the following year. - Production Manager
- Producer
- Actor
John H. Burrows was born on 4 September 1924 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a production manager and producer, known for A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), The Watcher (2000) and Pump Up the Volume (1990). He was married to Naomi Burrows. He died on 27 July 2020 in Camarillo, California, USA.- Stunts
- Actress
Jennifer Watson-Johnston was born on 12 November 1960 in Clovis, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Perfect Storm (2000), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and Blade (1998). She died on 13 February 2017 in Camarillo, California, USA.- Mary Betten was born in 1936. She was an actress, known for T.J. Hooker (1982), Mork & Mindy (1978) and Knots Landing (1979). She died on 27 April 2017 in Camarillo, California, USA.
- Cirsten Weldon was born on 30 July 1960. She was an actress, known for The Doors (1991) and Hard to Die (1990). She died on 6 January 2022 in Camarillo, California, USA.
- Legendary rock'n'roll disc jockey Humble Harve Miller began his long and illustrious career in 1958 at radio station WAAT in Trenton, New Jersey. Miller then switched to WIBG in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he worked from 1958 to 1962. Humble Harve subsequently moved to Los Angeles in 1965 and initially established himself in the market at KBLA-Burbank (AM 1500) then achieved his greatest fame working as the nighttime disc jockey for "Boss Radio" KHJ. He narrated the enjoyable counterculture documentary "Mondo Mod" in 1967. In 1971 Miller murdered his adulterous wife Mary and wound up serving a stretch in prison for manslaughter. He was hired by KKDJ after getting out of jail.
Among the other Los Angeles radio stations Humble Harve worked for throughout the years are KIQQ, KIIS, KUTE, KRLA, KRTH, KCBS-FM, and KZLA. In addition, Miller also worked for WIBG in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1985 and KVI in Seattle, Washington from 1986 to 1989. Moreover, he lent his deep, smooth, and soothing voice to countless syndicated radio specials. Humble Harve appeared in two movies for director Floyd Mutrux as a disc jockey: He's Dr. J in "The Hollywood Knights" and the Beard in "There Goes My Baby." In 1995 Miller was inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. Humble Harve towards the end of his disc jockey career could be heard in syndication on various radio stations as well as on the internet with special shows and programs that mainly focused on the oldies. Miller died at age 84 on June 4, 2019 in Camarillo, California. - Director
- Writer
- Producer
Writer/director/producer Lee Madden was born in 1927 in Brooklyn, New York City. Madden's debut film was the enjoyable biker crime caper heist yarn "Hell's Angels '69;" this movie featured various members of the real Oakland Hell's Angels led by then president Sonny Barger and was the sole motion picture the motorcycle club directly participated in. Lee's other films include the equally entertaining biker outing "Angel Unchained," the creepy horror opus "The Night God Screamed," and the fun drive-in exploitation romp "The Manhandlers." Moreover, Madden also directed episodes of the TV series "The Most Deadly Game," "Bearcats!," "Cade's County," and "The New Perry Mason." His company Lee Madden Associates was a major supplier of industrial movies and TV commercials for primarily automobile companies. Lee's son David is the executive vice president of programming at Fox Television Studios. Madden died at age 82 of complications from pneumonia on April 9, 2009 in Camarillo, California.- Music Department
Walter Sheets was born on 7 August 1911 in London, Ohio, USA. He is known for The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats (1970) and The Fox and the Hound (1981). He died on 10 May 2001 in Camarillo, California, USA.- Actor
- Art Department
- Additional Crew
Derf Scratch was born on 30 October 1951 in Monmouth, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Class of 1984 (1982), Good-bye Cruel World (1982) and Forty Days of Musa Dagh (1982). He died on 28 July 2010 in Camarillo, California, USA.