1.
Dick Kinney
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Richard Timothy Dick Kinney was an American animator and comic book writer. His comic book work was mostly on Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck stories and he was the writer who, along with artist Al Hubbard, created Fethry Duck and Hard Haid Moe. Kinney is the brother of fellow Disney animator Jack Kinney. Earlier, as a writer, Kinney was part of the story crew on various Disney, Walter Lantz Productions, UPA and Jack Kinney Productions/King Features Syndicate theatrical. The Lantz cartoon Niagara Fools, featuring Woody Woodpecker, represented perhaps Kinneys most fondly-remembered original storyline, later, Kinney would remake the story for comics with Fethry Duck in, essentially, the Woody role. Dick Kinney at the INDUCKS Dick Kinney at the Internet Movie Database
2.
One Thousand and One Nights
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One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the Arabian Nights, from the first English-language edition, the work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West, Central, and South Asia and North Africa. The tales themselves trace their roots back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Mesopotamian, Indian, Jewish, the stories proceed from this original tale, some are framed within other tales, while others begin and end of their own accord. Some editions contain only a few hundred nights, while others include 1,001 or more, the bulk of the text is in prose, although verse is occasionally used for songs and riddles and to express heightened emotion. Most of the poems are single couplets or quatrains, although some are longer, the main frame story concerns Shahryār, whom the narrator calls a Sasanian king ruling in India and China. Shahryār begins to marry a succession of only to execute each one the next morning. Eventually the vizier, whose duty it is to provide them, Scheherazade, the viziers daughter, offers herself as the next bride and her father reluctantly agrees. On the night of their marriage, Scheherazade begins to tell the king a tale, the king, curious about how the story ends, is thus forced to postpone her execution in order to hear the conclusion. The next night, as soon as she finishes the tale, she begins a new one, so it goes on for 1,001 nights. The tales vary widely, they include historical tales, love stories, tragedies, comedies, poems, burlesques, numerous stories depict jinns, ghouls, apes, sorcerers, magicians, and legendary places, which are often intermingled with real people and geography, not always rationally. The different versions have different individually detailed endings but they all end with the giving his wife a pardon. The narrators standards for what constitutes a cliffhanger seem broader than in modern literature, the history of the Nights is extremely complex and modern scholars have made many attempts to untangle the story of how the collection as it currently exists came about. Most scholars agreed that the Nights was a work and that the earliest tales in it came from India and Persia. At some time, probably in the early 8th century, these tales were translated into Arabic under the title Alf Layla and this collection then formed the basis of The Thousand and One Nights. The original core of stories was quite small, then, in Iraq in the 9th or 10th century, this original core had Arab stories added to it – among them some tales about the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. Devices found in Sanskrit literature such as stories and animal fables are seen by some scholars as lying at the root of the conception of the Nights. Indian folklore is represented in the Nights by certain animal stories, the influence of the Panchatantra and Baital Pachisi is particularly notable. The Jataka Tales are a collection of 547 Buddhist stories, which are for the most part moral stories with an ethical purpose
3.
Jim Backus
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James Gilmore Jim Backus was an American radio, television, film, and voice actor. Among his most famous roles were the voice of nearsighted cartoon character Mr and he also starred in his own show of one season, The Jim Backus Show, also known as Hot Off the Wire. An avid golfer, Backus made the 36-hole cut at the 1964 Bing Crosby Pro-Am tournament, james Gilmore Backus was born February 25,1913, in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in Bratenahl, Ohio, a wealthy village surrounded by greater Cleveland. He was the son of Russell Gould Backus, a mechanical engineer, Backus attended Shaw High School in East Cleveland, Ohio. Backus was expelled from the Kentucky Military Institute for riding a horse through the mess hall, Backus was acting on radio as early as 1940, playing the role of millionaire aviator Dexter Hayes on Society Girl on CBS. He also made appearances on The Beverly Hillbillies and he was also judge Bradley Stevens in I Married Joan from 1952-1955. Backus was the voice of the cartoon character Mr. Magoo. Years later, when Backus was a frequent talk show guest, henny Backus, Jims wife, recalled the story, “Jim was in the 1952 film Don’t Bother to Knock, with Marilyn Monroe. He came home one night during the filming and told me that Miss Monroe in her most seductive breathy voice asked him to meet her in her dressing room and his curiosity got the better of him and he went. Once there, she exclaimed like a child, ‘Do Mr. Magoo. ’ And Jim did. Backus costarred in the comedy show I Married Joan from 1952 to 1955, in stark contrast to his usual affluent characters, he appeared on The Brady Bunch as an old gold prospector, a role he also played on a Gilligans Island episode. He also appeared in the season episode The Hustler in which he plays Mikes boss. Backus stayed with Gilligans Island between 1964 and 1967 and did revivals of the TV series in TV films made between 1978 and 1981. He also did revivals of Mr. Magoo from 1964 to 1977, in 1977, Backus appeared in Never Con a Killer, the pilot for the ABC crime drama The Feather and Father Gang. He also co-wrote the 1971 family film Mooch Goes to Hollywood, in the late 1950s, he made two novelty 45 rpm records, Delicious and Cave Man. Backus also played the voice of God in the recording of Truth of Truths, Backus acted in several television commercials. As Mr. Magoo, he also helped advertise the General Electric line of products over the years and he was also spokesman for La-Z-Boy furniture during the 1970s. In the late 1980s, he was reunited with former co-star Natalie Schafer in an advertisement for Orville Redenbachers popcorn and they reprised their roles from Gilligans Island, but instead of still being shipwrecked, the setting was a luxurious study or den
4.
Kathryn Crosby
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Kathryn Crosby is an American former actress and singer who performed in films under the stage-names Kathryn Grant and Kathryn Grandstaff. Born Olive Kathryn Grandstaff in Houston, Texas, she graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1955, two years later she became Bing Crosbys second wife, being more than thirty years his junior. The couple had three children, Harry, Mary Frances, and Nathaniel and she appeared as a guest star on her husbands 1964–1965 ABC sitcom The Bing Crosby Show. She largely retired after their marriage, but did have a role in the courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder. In the mid-1970s, she hosted The Kathryn Crosby Show, a 30-minute local talk-show on KPIX-TV in San Francisco, husband Bing appeared as a guest occasionally. Since Bing Crosbys death in 1977, she has taken on a few smaller roles, for 16 years ending in 2001, Crosby hosted the Crosby National Golf Tournament at Bermuda Run Country Club in Bermuda Run, North Carolina. A nearby bridge carrying U. S. Route 158 over the Yadkin River is named for Kathryn Crosby. On November 4,2010, Crosby was seriously injured in an accident in the Sierra Nevada that killed her 85-year-old second husband, Maurice William Sullivan
5.
Dwayne Hickman
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Dwayne Bernard Hickman is an American former actor and television executive at CBS. Born in Los Angeles, California, and raised Catholic, Hickman is the brother of child actor Darryl Hickman. He graduated from Cathedral High School in 1952 and intended to become a Passionist priest, an early screen appearance was in the 1942 Our Gang comedy Melodies Old and New. Dwayne and Darryl co-starred in an episode of the syndicated military drama Men of Annapolis, filmed at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. As a teen, he and Darryl guest-starred in a 1950 episode of The Lone Ranger titled Two Gold Lockets and he gained wide notice as Chuck on The Bob Cummings Show from 1955-59. At the time, he was studying at Loyola, Hickman was one of the first stars to have a breakout character in the series. Hickman considered Cummings a childhood hero and has said that Cummings taught him everything he knows about acting. He worked with and was friends with Cummings throughout five seasons, while still on the Bob Cummings Show in 1958, Hickman was cast as the lead of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which aired on CBS from 1959–63. Although at the debut the Dobie character was a teenager in high school. After playing Dobie for four years, Hickman found himself stereotyped as a youngster when he was too old for such roles and he appeared in minor beach films and made an unsuccessful television pilot portraying a schoolteacher. James Franciscus was thereafter cast as Mr. Novak, a high school English teacher on another NBC series, on June 23,1960, Hickman appeared on NBCs The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. He and Annette Funicello appeared together in an episode of ABCs circus drama The Greatest Show on Earth, in 1965, Hickman appeared in the comedy film Cat Ballou with Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin. Hickman found his future in entertainment behind the scenes, being involved in production roles, from 1977–88, Hickman served as a programming executive at CBS. He worked as a director on television series, including Designing Women. He reprised his role of Dobie in two television reunion broadcasts, the one-shot pilot Whatever Happened to Dobie Gillis and the TV movie Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis and his autobiography is titled Forever Dobie. Official website Interview with Dwayne Hickman Dwayne Hickman at the Internet Movie Database
6.
Hans Conried
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He was born on April 15,1917 in Baltimore, Maryland to Hans Georg and Edith Beryl Conried. He was named Hans Georg Conried Jr. Claims that his name was Frank Foster are false. His Connecticut-born mother was a descendant of Pilgrims, and his father was a Jewish immigrant from Vienna and he was raised in Baltimore and in New York City. He studied acting at Columbia University and went on to major classical roles onstage. Conried worked in radio working in movies in 1939. During World War II, he enlisted in the United States Army in September 1944, one of Conreids early radio appearances came in 1937, when he appeared in a supporting role in a broadcast of The Taming of the Shrew on KECA in Los Angeles, California. Four years later, a newspaper reported about his role on Hedda Hoppers Hollywood, But at the mike hes equally convincing as old men, drunks, dialeticians, or Shakesperean tragedians. Miss Hopper favors him for her dramatizations when the script will allow him, as she puts it, Conried appeared regularly on radio during the 1940s and 1950s. He was in the regular cast of Orson Welless Ceiling Unlimited, for which he wrote the December 14,1942, episode, on CBSs The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show he played a psychiatrist whom George regularly consulted for help in dealing with the ditzy Gracie. Conried made his Broadway debut in Can-Can and was credited in six films, other Broadway productions include 70, Girls,70 and Irene. Darling, and Captain Hook in Peter Pan, and The Grinch/Narrator from Dr. Seuss Halloween is Grinch Night, according to the DVD commentary of Futurama, he was the inspiration for the voice created for that series Robot Devil. Conried was a cast member of other Dr. Wigglesworth on Hoppity Hooper and he also performed as the slave in the mirror character, hosting several memorable episodes of Walt Disneys Wonderful World of Color. Besides hosting Fractured Flickers, Conried was a regular panelist on CBSs pantomime program, Stump the Stars and he was a regular guest on Jack Paars Tonight Show on NBC from 1959 to 1962. Conried joined the cast of The Tony Randall Show during the 1977-78 season, guest appearances included I Love Lucy Davy Crockett, The Californians, Meet McGraw, Hey, Jeannie. The Ray Milland Show, The DuPont Show with June Allyson, The Real McCoys, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Mister Ed, The Islanders, Ben Casey, Dr. From 1955-64, Conried made twenty-one guest appearances as Danny Thomass Lebanese Uncle Tonoose in Make Room for Daddy on ABC and he was featured in the 1958 episode What Makes Opera Grand. The episode, an analysis by Leonard Bernstein showing the effect of music in opera. The program demonstrated the effect of the music in La Bohème by having actors speak portions of the libretto in English, Conried had a history of heart problems and suffered a stroke in 1974
7.
Herschel Bernardi
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Herschel Bernardi was an American film, stage, and television actor. Born in New York City, into the Yiddish theatre, the son of Berel Bernardi and Helen Bernardi. In the 1930s, Bernardi appeared in the Yiddish films of Edgar G. Ulmer and was later among those actors who made the transition from Yiddish-speaking roles in film to American films, Herschel was the brother of Jack Bernardi. From 1958-1961 Bernardi co-starred with Craig Stevens in Blake Edwards popular television series Peter Gunn and he received his sole Emmy nomination for his portrayal of the dour Lieutenant Jacoby. In 1963, he was cast as Mr. Otis, a teacher who mostly ignores his students, in the episode, I Dont Even Live Here, of the NBC education drama series, Mr. Novak, starring James Franciscus. In 1970, Bernardi was the lead in the CBS sitcom Arnie, Bernardi starred for two years as someone plucked from the loading dock of a flange company to become an executive. He voiced Woodhead the rocking horse in Filmations Journey Back to Oz and he also provided the Cowardly Lions singing voice while Milton Berle provided the characters speaking voice. He also appeared as Joe Vitelli in the 1977 TV miniseries Seventh Avenue, Bernardi was the victim of blacklisting during the 1950s, as were several other performers and the screenwriter and director on that film. Bernardi also narrated and emceed The Golden Age of Second Avenue, Herschel Bernardi also had two minor record hits, 1967s If I Were A Rich Man, reflecting his success as Tevye, and 1971s Pencil Marks On The Wall. Herschel Bernardi died in his sleep of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California. He was 62 years old and was survived by his wife, Terry, and son Michael, three children from a marriage, Adam, Beryl and Robin, and brothers Jack, also an actor. Bernardi is buried at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California
