Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Today in his blog, Christopher Mills was talking about a 70’s spy show called “A Man Named Sloan.” I don’t remember ever watching or even hearing about the show. I loved Robert Conrad in “The Wild, Wild West” so I’m pretty sure I would have turned in to at least see the premiere.
I was shocked to hear that Heath Ledger was found dead today and that drugs may have played a factor. Although only 28, Ledger had already appeared in both critically acclaimed [“Brokeback Mountain” “Monster Ball”] and wildly popular [“The Patriot”] movies. Ledger seemed to me to be an actor who was more interested in being an actor than a star, although his upcoming role as the Joker in “The Dark Knight” would surely once again pushed him into the spotlight.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.
Suzanne Pleshette, best known for her role as Bob Newhart’s wife, Emily Hartley, on “The Bob Newhart Show” passed away yesterday at the age of 70 from respiratory failure.
The first time I remember seeing Suzanne Pleshette on screen was in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.” She played Rod Taylor’s ex-flame, Annie Taylor [who to me was more appealing than his new love interest, Tippi Hendren]. I know I saw her in other things [since she turned up in a lot of guest star roles], but my next memory is of her co-starring with James Garner in “Support Your Local Gunfighter.” Not long after that came the classic role on Newhart.
Suzanne Pleshette was pretty, fun-loving and brought a sparkle to the roles she played. She will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family, friends and fans.
I just discovered via Mark Evanier’s site that Allan Melvin passed away last Thursday. While you may not know his name, I’ll bet you’ll know his face. Melvin was probably best known as “Sam the Butcher” from the Brady Bunch, but there was a time when Melvin was, as Mark Evanier states, “in everything.”
Maila Nurmi, better known as Vampira, passed away yesterday at the age of 86. Although few would recognize Ms. Nurmi’s name, almost everyone knows her “Vampira” character. Maila did make appearances in a few movies after her tv show was cancelled; most notably Ed Wood’s infamous “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” Maila left show business in the early 60’s, but her spirit lived on through the antics of dozens of other horror hosts such as Zacherley, Sammy Terry, and even Elvira [who was later unsuccessfully sued by Maila]. With the growth of the goth movement, the “popularity” of “Plan 9” and Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood” film, Maila enjoyed renewed popularity in her later years.
It appears that Maila died leaving behind no family members. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her friends and many fans.
Merv Griffin died nearly five months ago… yet he made me laugh today. That’s more than I can say for a lot of comedians still alive.
Robert Craig Knievel aka Evel Knievel died today. He was 69 years old. Many of you younger ZONE readers may not remember Evel, but my guess is you know something about this outrageous daredevil whose biggest claims to fame came from unsuccessful jumps.
In 1965, Knievel led a group that he named Evel Knievel’s Motorcycle Daredevils. They would travel from town to town performing typical motorcycle stunts of the era: riding wheelies, driving through fire walls and jumping things. Knievel had a knack for self-promotion and a talent for jumping his motorcycle over things. In 1966 he began touring alone and his jumps continued to become bigger.
On New Year’s Day in 1968 he failed in his attempt to jump the fountains at Caesar’s Palace. Although the jump nearly killed him, it also launched him in to popular culture history. In the years to follow there would be more jumps, astronomical paychecks, tv and movie appearances, Evel Knievel toys and collector cards and an ever growing legend. Most kids my age went through a period when they considered Evel Knievel to be “the man.” He was outrageous, traveled where he wanted, had tons of money and beautiful women and risked his life doing what he wanted.
In 1974, Knievel was paid $6 million dollars by ABC for the rights to televise his attempt to jump the Snake River canyon in a rocket-motorcycle. I remember watching the show live and my total disappointment when the chute malfunctioned almost immediately. Although Knievel continued to make big jumps and big money, I had lost interest. Knievel retired from big jumps in 1976, but continued touring into the 1980’s. He had been in failing health in recent years.
In 2006, Evel was quoted as saying, “No king or prince has lived a better life.” Evel lived his life doing things his way and for a several years he was as popular as any rock star. It’s hard to imagine that a guy who jumped his motorcycle over things could have had such an impact on popular culture, but Evel Knievel did.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends, and fans.
Dick Wilson the actor who played tv icon Mr. Whipple in over 500 commercials spanning 21 years died today. Mr. Wilson was 91. If you grew up in the 60’s, the 70’s or 80’s you knew Mr. Whipple and not to squeeze the Charmin [at least when he was around].
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Wilson’s family, friends and fans.
Fairplay, 33, whose real name is Jon Dalton, had filed a police report saying that Bonaduce came onto the stage uninvited, made a derogatory comment and then committed the battery on him when Fairplay attempted to “hug” Bonaduce with one of Fairplay’s “signature moves”.
Anyone who saw the video knows that while Bonaduce did go on stage and make a comment, he was walking off stage when Fairplay called out to him. The video also shows that Fairplay’s “signature” move/hug involved him jumping uninvited into Bonaduce’s arms, straddling his legs around Bonaduce’s body and then humping him at the chest/face level. Fairplay’s lucky that he was simply thrown off.
Of course Bonaduce is lucky that no charges are being brought forward… because even if he would have been found “not guilty” it would still have cost him a good bit of money for lawyer’s fees and other expenses.
Since many of you enjoy art I thought you might get a kick out of some recent sketches that I picked up for addition to my Stallone Theme Gallery! 
Danny Bonaduce is facing felony criminal charges and a lawsuit after dropping reality tv “star” Johnny Fairplay on his face last night on FOX’s Reality Channel Really Awards show. While some sites [like HERE] seem to be coming down on the side of Johnny Fairplay, after watching THE VIDEO, I don’t really blame Bonaduce for throwing Fairplay off of him.I’m a fan of neither Bonaduce nor Fairplay so I have no horse in this race. After watching THIS VIDEO it is pretty clear that Bonaduce was walking away, that Fairplay jumped on to Bonaduce and then began gyrating and that Bonaduce simply threw him off.
My guess is that it’ll probably cost Bonaduce some money either to make the lawsuit go away or to hire attorneys to fight it. Odds are even greater that both of these “celebs” will use the incident to grab a few more minutes of fame.
Charles Bronson was my favorite actor for a time. He didn’t just play tough guys in movies — he was one. I thought I’d seen all of Bronson’s major starring roles… until I saw THIS.
Christopher Mills reminds us that Lee Marvin died 20 years ago today. Marvin had a prolific acting career and made anything he was in better simply with his presence. I’ve always been a Lee Marvin fan, and time hasn’t changed that or his classic screen appearances. So thanks to Chris for today’s reminder and keeping Marvin’s memory alive!
A few minutes ago it came over the wires that Merv Griffin had passed away from prostate cancer at the age of 82. Mr. Griffin started out as a singer, but really hit it big with his self-titled talk show which ran for more than 20 years. He is also known for being the creative genius behind two of television’s most popular and longest running game shows “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune.”
Hard to believe, but that’s a photo of me that appeared in 1980 on the inside front cover of Bill Black’s Fun Comics #1. Although it was 27 years ago, it seems like yesterday… ok, maybe not really yesterday, but definitely not 27 years ago.
OrlandoCon 1980. Bill Black, Jim Ivey, and Mike Kott were all friends of mine [still are in fact] and the main men behind OrlandoCon. That year Jock Mahoney was the media guest of honor.
Jock had a long, successful career in movies and on tv. He started out as a stuntman, but soon was playing the lead as The Range Rider, Yancy Derringer, Tarzan [in 3 movies], and in so many other roles. Jock was also Sally Field’s stepfather!
Because of my connections with Bill, Jim and Mike, I was able to appear on stage with Jock when he did some demonstrations of how fights are filmed for movies. Jock was a great guest. He even posed with Bill and his wife Rebecca for the fumetti below. Hard to believe that it was done over 1/4 century ago…
