Sunday, May 29, 2011

Grab Your Balls, We're Going Bowling!

My parents were avid bowlers back in the day. I have fond memories of my brother and I hanging out at the bowling alley on Sundays through most of the 70s.

Here's a few photos I found of my folks bowling team. My dad is the tall guy and my mom is next to him. I don't know who the other couple are. Colonial Village Lanes is long gone. It's now a thrift store.


Friday, May 27, 2011

Jeff Conaway, R.I.P.

From Today.com --

Jeff Conaway, who starred in "Taxi" and played Danny Zuko's buddy Kenickie in 1978's "Grease," has died after more than two weeks in a coma.

Spokeswoman Kathryn Boole says the 60-year-old actor died Friday morning at the Encino Tarzana Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized in a coma since May 11. His manager, Phil Brock, has said Conaway had tried to treat himself with pain pills and cold medicine while in weakened health.

The actor was found unconscious in his apartment on May 11. Doctors had said there was no hope for his recovery and his family decided to take him off life support on Thursday, according to E! News.

Conaway's ex-girlfriend, Vikki Lizzi, had gone to court to try and prevent the action. E! reports that Lizzi and Conaway had filed dueling restraining orders against each other in March after their breakup. At the time, Conaway had claimed she was injecting him with prescription drugs against his will.

Conaway had publicly battled addiction issues, and was treated by Dr. Drew Pinsky on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab."

After Lizzi discovered Conaway unconscious on May 11, manager Phil Brock first said that an overdose of painkillers was a likely culprit. That theory was disputed days later by Pinsky, who said that there was no sign of an intentional overdose and instead the actor was suffering from pneumonia and the blood poisoning known as sepsis.

The actor had struggled with health and substance abuse problems for years, and in 2008, told radio host Howard Stern "I've tried to commit suicide 21 times."

"Not an OD like press is alleging & certainly not dead," Pinsky tweeted late last week after visiting Conaway.

E! Online quoted some of Conaway's Hollywood friends reacting to the news.

"Grease" costar John Travolta recalled his former T-Bird wingman. "Jeff Conaway was a wonderful and decent man, and we will miss him," Travolta told E! News. "My heartfelt thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this very difficult time."

"Yet again another beautiful soul is wasted due to the growing problem of pharmaceutical addiction," Corey Feldman told E! News. "I have lost way too many friends because of irresponsible practices where doctors are overmedicating obvious addicts. It's horrific and disgusting! My heart goes out to Jeff's family, he was a wonderful human."

E! also reported that former "Munsters" star Butch Patrick, a onetime party pal of Conaway, said he was "devastated" by the loss.

Conaway was married to Rona Newton-John, sister of singer Olivia, in the early '80s. He is survived by their son, Emerson, a professional racecar driver.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Edward Hardwicke, R.I.P.

I love the Granada Holmes series. R.I.P. Mr. Hardwicke.

From Reuters --

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Edward Hardwicke, who played the faithful Dr. Watson opposite Jeremy Brett's "Sherlock Holmes" in the famed Granada Television series of the 1980s and '90s, died Monday, the Telegraph in London reported. He was 78.

Hardwicke replaced David Burke and appeared as Watson in 11 hourlong episodes in Granada's "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" from 1986-88; in two-hour versions of "The Sign of Four" (1987) and "The Hound of The Baskervilles" (1988); and then in seasons broadcast as "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes" (1991) and "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" (1994). He also handled the role on the West End stage with Brett in 1989's "The Secret of Sherlock Holmes."

The Granada adventures were exceeding faithful to the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories, so Hardwicke played Watson not as a bumbler of the Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce era but as a dashing, stately former military doctor.

The son of actors Cedric Hardwicke and Helena Pickard, the London native appeared in his first movie at age 10, "A Guy Named Joe" (1943), which starred Spencer Tracy. Other film credits include "The Day of the Jackal" (1973), "Shadowlands" (1993), "Richard III" (1995), "The Scarlet Letter" (1995), "Elizabeth" (1998) and "Love Actually" (2003).

Hardwicke was a member of Laurence Olivier's National Theater in the 1960s and had regular roles in the British TV series "Colditz" (playing a character based on real-life war hero Pat Reid); "My Old Man;" "Tycoon;" and "Strangers and Brothers."

He is survived by daughters Kate and Emma

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Groovy Patches

Hey Kids! Make sure you get your "Playboy Bunny", "U.S.A. Drinking Team" and "Caution Budweiser Powered" patches! All the cool kids have them!

This ad comes from a 1973 issue of Gold Key's Yosemite Sam.

Sunday, May 08, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day mom. I miss you.
And Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful wife Ginny. I love you!

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Jackie Cooper, R.I.P.

Breaking news from from TMZ.com --

Academy Award nominated actor Jackie Cooper has died ... TMZ has learned.

Cooper -- who was nominated for an Oscar when he was 9-years-old -- passed away yesterday at a hospital in Beverly Hills after a sudden bout with illness.

Cooper was highly respected director in his adult years -- winning Emmy awards for his work on "M*A*S*H*"and "The White Shadow."

Cooper famously played the role of The Daily Planet newspaper editor in the 1978 "Superman" film.

Story developing ....

Free Comic Book Day Videos







Monday, May 02, 2011

Yvette Vickers, R.I.P.


This is really sad. Rest in peace Yvette.

From the Los Angeles Times --

Yvette Vickers, an early Playboy playmate whose credits as a B-movie actress included such cult films as “Attack of the 50-Foot Woman” and “Attack of the Giant Leeches,” was found dead last week at her Benedict Canyon home. Her body appears to have gone undiscovered for months, police said.

Vickers, 82, had not been seen for a long time. A neighbor discovered her body in an upstairs room of her Westwanda Drive home on April 27. Its mummified state suggests she could have been dead for close to a year, police said.

The official cause of death will by determined by the Los Angeles county coroner's office, but police said they saw no sign of foul play.

Vickers had lived in the 1920s-era stone and wood home for decades, and it served as the background for some of her famous modeling pictures. But over time it had become dilapidated, exposed in some places to the elements.

Susan Savage, an actress, went to check on Vickers after noticing old letters and cobwebs in her elderly neighbor's mailbox.

"The letters seemed untouched and were starting to yellow," Savage said. "I just had a bad feeling."

After pushing open a barricaded front gate and scaling a hillside, Savage peered through a broken window with another piece of glass taped over the hole. She decided to enter the house after seeing a shock of blond hair, which turned out to be a wig.
The inside of the home was in disrepair and it was hard to move through the rooms because boxes containing what appeared to be clothes, junk mail and letters formed barriers, Savage said. Eventually, she made her way upstairs and found a room with a small space heater still on.

She was looking at a cordless phone that appeared to have been knocked off its cradle when she first saw the body on the floor, she said. Savage had known Vickers but the remains were unrecognizable, she said.

She remembered her neighbor as an elegant women in a broad straw hat, dressed in white, with flowing blond hair and "a warm smile."

"She kept to herself, had friends and seemed like a very independent spirit," Savage said. "To the end she still got cards and letter from all over the world requesting photos and still wanting to be her friend."

Savage said the neighbors felt terrible.

"We've all been crying about this," she said. "Nobody should be left alone like that."

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Free Comic Book Day - May 7, 2011

What is Free Comic Book Day?

Free Comic Book Day is a single day - the first Saturday in May each year - when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely FREE* to anyone who comes into their stores.

*Check with your local shop for their participation and rules.

Go to the Free Comic Book Day website for more details.

Below are some of the items that will be available for free on May 7.