Have you ever wondered where your dog would go, and what they would do, if they were let off the leash for a day and allowed to roam freely around the city?
If you adopted a stray dog then your pooch probably knows the neighborhood around your property pretty well, since strays don't lose their drive to roam, but where exactly would they go?
A Japanese woman named Keiko from Shirahama prefecture wondered why her adopted dog Sacchan had become curiously fat, hearing reports from neighbors who'd seen Sacchan at the train station and the supermarket.
So she wrote a letter to a Japanese TV show asking them to help her solve the mystery of what Sacchan does all day, but their investigation hit quite a few snags since Sacchan was on to their little scheme.
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
"Turkey makes you sleepy" is a commonly accepted, although false belief that usually crops up most commonly during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
This is one I bought into for many years. I even had a girl tell me that eating some turkey before I go to bed would help cure my insomnia. We hear these "commonly accepted" theories, beliefs, or myths and because most of us are trusting or we hear them from "reliable sources," we swallow them (no pun intended). No real harm is done, just that we absorb a little more false data into our lives and our knowledge. Nowadays, we call it "fake news."
Okay, the story is that turkey makes you sleepy because it contains tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid, a protein which is very necessary to human bodies. And true, tryptophan, in certain amounts, can make you sleepy or drowsy. But the fact is that chicken and ground beef each contain almost as much tryptophan as turkey. Cheese and pork actually contain significantly more.
So why does turkey "seem" to make us sleep, especially during the holidays?
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
Russell Johnson Jr. was born on November 10, 1924 to Russell and Minnie Johnson in Ashley, Pennsylvania. Russell was the second oldest of six children (three brothers and two sisters). His father, Russell Johnson Sr., died in December of 1932, when Russell was just eight. Sadly, his little brother, Paul Wesley Johnson, died shortly thereafter. Minnie was to re-marry, to a man named Thomas L. Lewis.
As a teenager, Russell attended Girard College, a private school for fatherless boys in Philadelphia. After graduating, Russell enlisted in the US Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet. After finishing his training, Russell was commissioned a second lieutenant.
Russell flew 44 combat missions in the Pacific theater during World War II, as a combat bombardier in B-25 twin-engined medium bombers. On March 4, 1945, while flying with the 100th bombardment squadron, his B-25 and two others were shot down during a low-level bombing and strafing run against Japanese military targets in the Philippine Islands. Russell broke both ankles in the landing and one of his fellow pilots was killed.
He received a Purple Heart for his injuries, as well as an air medal, the Atlantic-Pacific medal with 3 campaign stars, the Philippine Celebration Medal with one campaign star, and the World War II victory medal. After Japan's surrender, he was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant in November 1945. He joined the Air Force Reserves and used the G.I. Bill to study acting at the actor's lab in Hollywood.
He met his second wife, Kay Cousins, there and married her in 1949. (He had previously been married to Edith Cahoon for five years, 1943-1948.)
Russell began his diverse and eclectic career as a young actor with an appearance on a short-lived TV series called Fireside Theater in 1950, playing the role of a sailor. He made his first "notable" appearance on TV in The Adventures of Superman (filmed in 1951, broadcast in January 1953) in an episode called "The Runaway Robot," playing a gangster called "Chopper."
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
I Love Lucy would probably correctly be identified as being the most popular and beloved television series of all-time. And since it's debut on October 15, 1951, it is probably also the most watched.
Pre-production on the new sitcom wasn't really overly complex. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were set to play the show's main couple, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, and there were only two others in the show's regular cast. These two being Lucy and Ricky's best friends and landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz.
Okay, let's start at the top- why the names? Where did the monikers Fred and Ethel Mertz come from? The name "Fred" comes from Lucille ball's brother, Fred. The "Ethel" was in honor of Lucy's longtime pal, the famed broadway and Hollywood star, Ethel Merman.
When the show's writers were trying to come up with an appropriate surname for the pair, they started batting around very silly names- like "Throttlebottom." It was writer Madelyn Pugh who came up with "Mertz," a name taken in honor of a doctor who lived down the block from her in her youth in Indianapolis.
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
"It plays on the basic fear that people have about what might be lurking below the surface of any body of water. You know the feeling when you are swimming and something brushes your legs down there. It scares the hell out of you, if you don't know what it is. the fear of the unknown. I decided to exploit this fear as much as possible."
-Jack Arnold, director of The Creature from the Black Lagoon
Although it sounds strange, the actual genesis of The Creature from the Black Lagoon occurred during the filming of Citizen Kane. In 1941, producer William Alland attended a dinner party during the filming of Citizen Kane. Alland had a role in the Orson Welles classic as a reporter named Thompson. At the dinner party, Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa told Alland about the myth of a race of half-human, half-fish creatures who live in the Amazon River.
Eleven years later, in 1952, Alland recalled the conversation of a decade previous and wrote a story called "The Sea Monster." His memory was jogged and he recalled the 1941 incident, but he also said he was influenced by the story of "Beauty and the Beast." In December of '52, Maurice Zimm expanded the story into a treatment. Finally, Harry Essex and Arthur Ross rewrote this treatment and called it "The Black Lagoon."
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
The first mention of a sound film version of victor Hugo's classic novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame can be traced back to a 1932 news item in the Hollywood reporter, stating that John Huston was writing a treatment of the story for the screen, to star Boris Karloff. MGM executive Irving Thalberg first presented the idea to Charles Laughton in 1934. In 1937, MGM considered making the film with Peter Lorre in the title role. RKO studios made the final decision to make the film in 1939.
Many actors were considered to play the role of Quasimodo, including Bela Lugosi, Robert Morely, and Lon Chaney Jr. Even Orson Welles's name was in the mix, and Welles came close, almost making his film debut as the hunchback instead of as Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane two years later.
It was thought that Charles Laughton, who was in trouble with the IRS at the time, may have been in too much hot water in America, and would be unavailable to play Quasimodo. RKO promised Lon Chaney Jr. that if Laughton was unable to handle the IRS and his financial fiasco, he would get the role. But Laughton finally settled his differences with the Internal Revenue Service and officially signed on to play the Paris bellringer. Laughton had recently signed a contract with RKO and chose this project to be his first film there.
Laughton, having performed with her in London, requested the beautiful Maureen O'Hara to play his unrequited love, the gypsy Esmeralda in the film, and the studio agreed. Sir Cedric Hardwicke signed on to play the oh-so-evil villain, Frollo, and Edmond O'Brien was inked to play Esmeralda's lover, Gringore. William Dieterle took over the helm as director.
Laughton also recommended Perc Westmore to be his make-up man. Ironically, although he was personally chosen by Laughton, he and Laughton were to butt heads many times in disagreement over how Quasimodo should be costumed and made up.
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
In 1930, Universal Studios lost $2.2 million in revenue. The studio, reeling and on the verge of potential bankruptcy, had thrown the dice and produced Dracula, starring a Hungarian actor named Bela Lugosi, in 1931. Dracula proved to be the studio's salvation, earning a $700,000 profit (Universal's biggest money-maker in '31). Buoyed by the studio'sDracula success, Carl Laemmle Jr., the head of of production, immediately ordered more horror films. This was to be a turning point in Hollywood history.
During Hollywood's Golden Age, MGM was to be "the" studio for musicals, Paramount "the" studio for comedies, Warner Brothers "the" studio for dramas, and now, Universal would take its rightful place as "the" studio for horror films. Although no one at Universal knew it at the time, they were about to produce what would reputedly go down in history as the most iconic and beloved horror film in the history of motion pictures.
The original (and logical) choice to play the title role was, of course, the now red hot Bela Lugosi. But while Bela did want to be in Frankenstein, he had his eye set not on the monster role, but instead on the role of his creator, the doctor, Henry Frankenstein. Colin Clive, however, was already a given to be cast as the doctor, which left the monster for Bela to portray.
The popular Hollywood legend is that Bela was, indeed, offered the Frankenstein monster role, but he turned it down because the role carried with it no dialogue. And this did play a part in Bela's decision, but there is more to the story.
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
The official title of what was to become (probably) the most beloved of Abbott and Costello's 30-odd films is actually Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein or Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein. These were the titles on the posters and lobby cards, as well as the film's opening credits. No matter, to millions of Abbott and Costello fans as well as millions of horror film fans, it will forever be known, even if incorrectly, as Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The original, planned title was actually The Brain of Frankenstein, but this was changed to make it sound less like a standard horror film, as well as to cash in on A&C's box office appeal.
Lou Costello wasn't exactly thrilled when he read the movie's original screenplay. "No way I'll do that crap," he complained, "My little girl could write something better than this." A $50,000.00 advance in his salary, plus the inclusion of Charles Barton, who Bud and Lou both loved, as the film's director, helped change Lou's mind. (Bud and Lou were to be paid a final salary of $105,000).
Made on a shoestring budget of less than $800,000, production began on February 5, 1948.
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
Okay, where exactly did the term "jump the shark" come from? According to Ron Howard, it came from his Happy Days co-star Donnie Most.
One day in 1977, they received the weekly script for the upcoming episode of the show. The episode was actually the third part of a season five three-part episode called "Hollywood." In the episode, the Happy Days gang takes a trip to Hollywood, where Henry Winkler, as Fonzie, clad in swim trunks along with his trademark leather jacket, water skis over a shark to prove how brave he is. The episode was intended to show off Winkler's water skiing abilities.
Most looked over the script and asked Howard, "What do you think of the script?"
Howard shrugged and replied, "People like the show. It's hard to argue with being number one."
Most replied, "He's jumping a shark now?"
Jon Hein claims the term was coined by his roommate, Sean Connolly, at the University of Michigan. According to Hein, "jumping the shark" came from a conversation the two were having regarding the above Happy Days episode, and other TV shows, that had a specific episode or a specific moment in time when they realized the show had peaked and after that moment they had started going downhill. (Image source: TV Tropes)
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
He was the most famous and beloved baseball player in the world. She was the movies' most glamorous sex goddess. But our story begins not with Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe, but with Marilyn and a much less famous ballplayer named Gus Zernial.
In 1952, rising starlet Marilyn Monroe went to the Chicago White Sox spring training camp in Pasadena, California, and posed for a few publicity photos with the upcoming Zernial, who, by a bizarre coincidence was being billed as "the new Joe DiMaggio."
Marilyn posed holding a bat in short shorts, a tight sweater and high heels with the much envied (and no doubt delighted) Zernial. No one thought much of the routine publicity shots until Zernial received a phone call from Joe DiMaggio himself. Joe had seen the publicity shots in the newspaper and, much intrigued, asked Gus how he could get in touch wth Marilyn. Gus recommended trying her press agent, which Joe did.
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
Ernest Borgnine was one of those rarities, an actor who not only starred in a classic TV series McHale's Navy but was also a huge (and Oscar-winning) movie star. Ernest passed on at the ripe old age of 95 (he looked about 65) on July 8th, 2012.
As an actor, Ernest gave legendary and brilliant performances in Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), From Here to Eternity (1953), The Dirty Dozen (1967) and The Wild Bunch (1969), along with dozens of others.
Although he specialized in playing bad guys in his early films, he gained true movie immortality by playing a shy, withdrawn butcher in Marty (1955), a true classic and one of the most intimate films to ever win an Academy Award. Ernest himself earned his one and only Academy Award for Best Actor as the title character in Marty.
He also had a very successful career on television, starring in McHale's Navy (1962-1966), as well as Airwolf, besides making many great guest appearances in such series as Get Smart, The Simpsons and Magnum P.I.
Ernest was beloved far and wide in show business, a well-known "good guy", a genuinely nice, decent man. Okay, let's take a look at a few facts you may not have known about the great Mr. Ernest Borgnine...
1. Ernest was perfectly cast as the star of McHale's Navy, as he had served 10 years in the U.S. Navy. He served on the destroyer USS Lamberton. He earned several decorations for his distinguished service, including the Navy Good Conduct Medal, the World War II victory medal and the American Defense Service Medal.
2. One of Ernest's early jobs was sweeping up the clipped hair from the floor in a barber shop.
3. Ernest claimed the P.T. boat used in McHale's Navy was owned by Howard Hughes.
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
Superman would probably be the most famous and popular superhero of all-time. I guess because we are all so familiar with him, Superman's powers don't seem very strange at all. He could fly (interestingly though, in the original Superman comics, he could not fly. He was a leaper. He would make giant leaps around Metropolis). In the Superman radio serial, he could walk through walls and even split himself into two Supermen.
In the 1980 movie Superman II, Superman had a power he never used before or since. He wiped out Lois Lane's memory of his secret identity- with a kiss.
Also, in one comic only (1947's Superman #45), Superman could merge himself with the wall (to escape from an alien prison). In this same unique comic, he molded his face to look like one of the aliens and convinced them to go home. He actually could manipulate the muscles in his face and entire body to assume a new form, in this case a yellow-skinned alien- with pointy ears and no hair, no less.
In another unusual and unique Superman (Action Comics #454) the Man of Steel had an unquenchable appetite. Superman usually is said to not need food because he gets his energy from the sun, but in this issue he scarfs down a mountainous plate of hamburgers.
Superman also once had the power of ventriloquism. In several 50's and '60's comics, the man of steel throws his voice around like Edgar Bergen. As far as having versatility in his super powers, I think we have to agree that Superman wins first prize, but let's move on.
The Godfather is considered one of the best movies ever made—the American Film Institute ranks it #3, after Citizen Kane and Casablanca. The story of how it got made is just as good.
BOOKMAKER
In 1955 a pulp-fiction writer named Mario Puzo published his first novel, The Dark Arena, about an ex-GI and his German girlfriend who live in Germany after the end of World War II. The critics praised it, but it didn’t sell very many copies.
It took Puzo nine years to finish his next novel, The Fortunate Pilgrim, which told the story of an Italian immigrant named Lucia Santa who lives in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. After two bad marriages, Lucia is raising her kids alone and worries about her daughter, who has become too Americanized, and her son, who is being pulled into the Mafia.
Today The Fortunate Pilgrim is widely considered a classic work of Italian American fiction; Puzo himself considered it the best book he ever wrote. But it sold as poorly as The Dark Arena—together the two books had earned Puzo only about $6,500. By then he was 45 years old, $20,000 in debt, and tired of being broke. He wanted his next novel to be a success. “I looked around and said… I’d better make some money,” he recalled years later.
HIT MAN
Puzo figured that a story with an entire family of gangsters in it instead of only one would have more commercial appeal than The Fortunate Pilgrim had. He titled his third novel Mafia, and in a sign of how his fortunes were about to change, he received a $5,000 advance payment from the publisher. Then, after he’d completed only an outline and 114 pages, Paramount Pictures acquired the movie rights for $12,000 and agreed to pay an additional $50,000 if the movie actually got made.
Puzo’s decision to pack his story with wiseguys paid off. Mafia, by now retitled The Godfather, was a publishing phenomenon. The most successful novel of the 1970s, it spent 67 weeks on the bestseller list and sold more than 21 million copies before it even made it to the big screen.
TV’s Star Trek franchise was a four-decade-long roller-coaster ride, beginning with two different shows helmed by two very different men- Gene Roddenberry and Rick Berman. Here’s their behind-the-scenes story.
Macho Man
In his youth, Gene Roddenberry was a lot like Captain Kirk- always looking for adventure. As a teenager, he wanted to be a cop and even volunteered for the FBI. In World War II, he became a decorated bomber pilot who completed 89 missions in the Pacific. After the war, Captain Roddenberry was piloting a Pan Am passenger jet over the Syrian desert when the plane lost an engine and crashed. He fought off looting nomads to keep his passengers safe until help arrived.
One day in the mid-1950s, Roddenberry, now a motorcycle cop, walked into a Hollywood restaurant and interrupted a group of TV producers at a lunch meeting. He dropped one of his scripts on the table and said, “You’ll want to read this.” It was an unconventional, swaggering way to get his foot in the door… and it worked.
Wagon Trek
By 1964, Roddenberry was a successful TV writer, having written dozens of scripts for successful TV Westerns (Have Gun – Will Travel) and police dramas (Highway Patrol). But his goal was to get a show he created on the air, and he already had the first piece of the puzzle- a great idea. From his official pitch:
Star Trek is a new kind of television science fiction series. The format will be “Wagon Train to the Stars”- built around characters who travel to other worlds and meet the jeopardy and adventure which become our stories.
Studio after studio said no. “Too risky,” one executive said, “too smart. And way too expensive to produce every week.” In the 1960s, TV sci-fi was more fantasy than science-fiction; there was little attempt at realism- with either the science or the storylines. Combining a space adventure with serious drama was unheard of. But Roddenberry knew there was an audience for it.
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
Joseph Levitch (Jerry Lewis) was born in Newark, New Jersey, at Beth Israel Hospital on March 16, 1926. Note: at least one source claims Jerry's birth name was actually Jerome Levitch. Although he may have been referred to as "Joey" in these very early years, henceforth in this article, for the sake of simplicity and to avoid confusion, he will be referred to as "Jerry."
Jerry's parents were Daniel Levitch (he performed under the stage name "Danny Lewis"), a small-time journeyman master of ceremonies and vaudevillian, and Rachel ("Rae Lewis") nee Brodsky, a pianist, who would accompany Danny on their gigs around the country.
Little Jerry made his performing debut at a club in the Catskills at the age of six. He came on the stage and sang the then-popular depression era song "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" But besides singing, Jerry accidentally stepped on a stage light during his performance and it exploded. This accidental misstep surprised Jerry and evoked his first-ever laugh from an audience. "Not all kids would have liked being laughed at," recalled Jerry years later, "but I was a strange kid." Jerry said his next performance was at the age of eight.
