Red Skelton Loved To Paint Clowns

Comedian Red Skelton (1913-1997) always considered himself a clown rather than a comic. He believed his life’s work was to make people laugh so he wanted to be known as a clown because he defined it as being able to do everything.

In 1943, Skelton began producing artwork but did it privately for many years. He said he was inspired to try his hand at painting after visiting a large Chicago department store that had various paintings on display.

Skelton’s artwork of clowns remained a hobby until 1964 when his second wife Georgia, a former art student, persuaded him to have his first public showing of his work at the Sands hotel in Las Vegas where he was performing.

Skelton believed painting was an asset to his comedy work as it helped him to better visualize the imaginary props he used in his pantomime routines.

When asked why his artwork focused on clowns, he first said, “I don’t know why it’s always clowns.” After thinking a moment he continued by saying. “No, that’s not true. I do know why. I just don’t feel like thinking about it.”

Jayne Mansfield Almost Was Ginger On Gilligan’s Island

With her acting career on the decline, blonde bombshell movie actress Jayne Mansfield was offered the part of Ginger Grant on Gilligan’s Island but turned it down at the advice of her third husband.

She continued taking bit parts in small B-rated films with an occasional appearance in a respectable production. She also worked in nightclubs.

A couple of years later, Mansfield would be tragically killed along with two other adults in an automobile accident in Louisiana while headed for a television interview. Her three young children with her in the rear of the car survived the crash, one of which was future actress Mariska Hargitay.

Jayne Mansfield was dead at 34 years of age. Had she been a castaway member of an iconic situation comedy filmed in California, she might have lived.

What Happens In Vegas, Stays In Vegas

Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada – – Known as the country’s playground.

Click on the link below to see possible tourists posing by the iconic “Welcome” sign:

http://www.earthcam.com/usa/nevada/lasvegas/index.php?cam=sign_hd

Wayne Newton is probably just around the corner!

(And, believe it or not, there also happens to be another town named Las Vegas in the state of New Mexico. Who knew?)

A Little Nostalgia For “The Incredible Shrinking Man”

This 1957 black and white science fiction movie starred Grant Williams and Randy Stuart as Mr. and Mrs. Scott Carey. Scott gets exposed to some mysterious mist while onboard his brother-in-law’s boat and finds himself beginning to slowly get smaller.

Suddenly his shirts are too big for him and he’s losing weight. The family doctor is played by William Schallert, famous for being the voice of Pop Tarts’ Milton the Toaster. He also played the father on the Patty Duke Show.

He recommends Scott to see a specialist played by Raymond Bailey, recognized as Mr. Drysdale from the Beverly Hillbillies. Eventually, Scott Carey is seen as a freak when he winds up smaller than little people from a nearby traveling circus.

He becomes tiny enough to live inside a dollhouse where the family’s pet cat is viewed as a survival threat. The special effects for the time period are pretty good.

Scott ends up using a straight pin to battle a spider found in the basement. Smaller and smaller into a world with an expanding universe. Not much room left for any kind of happy ending.

Famous Hollywood Horses: The Trusty Steeds Of Tinseltown

Tom Mix rode Tony The Wonder horse

The Lone Ranger had Silver; Tonto rode Scout

Pixar’s Woody from Toy Story rode Bullseye

Roy Rogers rode Trigger; Dale Evans rode Buttermilk

Ken Maynard rode Tarzan

Gene Autry rode Champion

The Cisco Kid rode Diablo

Alan Young’s Wilbur Post character had Mr. Ed

Buck Jones also rode a horse named Silver

Rex Allen rode Koko

Pancho rode Loco

The Durango Kid rode Raider

Lash LaRue rode Black Diamond but renamed him Rush

Smiley Burnette road Ring Eye

Tex Ritter rode White Flash

Wild Bill Elliott rode Thunder

Sunset Carson rode Cactus

Bob Steele’s horse was Brownie

Hopalong Cassidy rode atop Topper

Whip Wilson’s horse was Silver Bullet, later shortened to Bullet

Gabby Hayes had three horses: Calico, Eddie and Blossom

Andy Devine’s horse was Joker

Chuck Connors as the Rifleman rode Razor

Tim Holt had a team of horses: Duke, Shiek, Lightning, Steel and Sundance

A painted horse named Dice pulled the ice wagon for the Three Stooges

How Hollywood Got To Be Named Hollywood

A real estate developer from Toronto named Hobart Johnstone Whitley is claimed to be the original namer of Hollywood. He and his second wife, Gigi Ross, supposedly came up with the name while on their honeymoon in California.

Another story claims that a man named Harvey Wilcox from Kansas purchased property in California for the development of homes. His wife Daeida met a woman on a train who mentioned that she had named her Ohio summer home as Hollywood. Daeida liked the name so much that she applied it to these new subdivisions.

The famous hillside sign spelling out “HOLLYWOODLAND” on Mount Lee in Griffith Park was built in 1923 for the purpose of advertising the housing development with that name. It was covered with 4000 lightbulbs and was never intended to last for more than one or two years.

Over time, the sign sustained much damage and deteriorated badly. In 1949, the City of Los Angeles Parks Department took over the responsibility of repairing and rebuilding the sign. “LAND” was removed from the sign, as were the light bulbs.

In 1978, the entire sign was replaced with letters made of steel. Nine donors each gave over $27,000 to fund the $250,000 restoration project to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Hollywood.

Was There More Than One Tony-The-Wonder Horse?

Cowboy actor Tom Mix did all of his own tricks and rode Tony The Wonder Horse while making over 180 westerns together.

Mix was sadly killed in an automobile accident in 1940. His horse lived an additional two years and was put down in 1942.

Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Joe Besser of the Three Stooges made two episodes of comedy about having a sister named Birdie who was reincarnated as a horse. Both featured Tony The Wonder Horse.

These episodes were filmed, however, in the late 1950’s.

There must have been another Tony The Wonder Horse, I wonder.

Just 3 Three Stooges? Guess Again. Try 23!

1) Moe Howard

2) Shemp Howard

3) Kenneth Lackey – Healy Replacement Stooge in 1925 “Earl Carroll Vanities”

4) Dave Chasen – Healy Replacement Stooge in 1925 “Earl Carroll Vanities”

5) Larry Fine

6) Curly Howard

7) Fred Sanborn – 1930 “Soup To Nuts”

8) Eddie Moran – Healy Replacement Stooge

9) Sammy (Glasser) Wolfe – Healy Replacement Stooge in 1931 “Crazy Quilt”

10) Paul “Mousie” Garner – Healy Replacement Stooge in 1931 “Crazy Quilt”

11) Dick Hakins – Healy Replacement Stooge in 1931 “Crazy Quilt”

12) Jack Wolf – Healy Replacement Stooge

13) Sam “Moody” Braun – Healy Replacement Stooge

14) Lou Warren – Healy Replacement Stooge

15) Bobby Pinkus – Healy Replacement Stooge

16) Jimmy Brewster – Healy Replacement Stooge in 1936 “San Francisco”

17) John “Red” Pearson – Healy Replacement Stooge in 1936 “San Francisco”

18) Frank Mitchell – performed live with Curly Joe and Mousie Garner

19) Joe Palma – fake Shemp double after his death

20) Mantan Moreland – Black comedian considered to replace Shemp

21) Joe Besser

22) Curly Joe DeRita

23) Emil Sitka – Considered to replace Larry after he suffered a stroke

The Man Who Made The Three Stooges

He was a comedian from Texas born in 1896. He didn’t seem very funny. He appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway and in movies. He is best known for creating the Three Stooges. He was an alcoholic. He was a mean drunk. He earned a hefty weekly salary yet underpaid his zany sidekicks. He saved no money. His favorite reading material were racing programs. After his son was born in 1937, he was beaten up outside a nightclub in Hollywood. He died from his injuries. He is quoted as saying “Never treat an audience as customers – always treat them as partners.” He was Ted Healy.

 

The Three Stooges Should Have Their Own Cable Network

Why isn’t there a Three Stooges cable channel?

Is it because that Comedy III Productions, Inc. is the registered owner of all rights to the former comedy act and cost of licensing is too expensive?

The 190 two-reel episodes that the trio (actually it was six comics in total) created in twenty-five years at Columbia Pictures should be showing somewhere besides YouTube, Hulu or on DVD.

Hey, Curly. Wouldn’t you like your own cable channel of 24/7 All Stooges All The Time programming? “Why, Soitenly! Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.” would be his response.