1.
James Best
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He appeared as a guest on various country music and talk shows. He also starred in the science fiction movie, The Killer Shrews and its sequel. James Best was born as Jewel Franklin Guy on July 26,1926, in Powderly, Kentucky, to Lark and his mother was the sister of Ike Everly, the father of the pop duo The Everly Brothers. After his mother died of tuberculosis in 1929, then three-year-old James was sent to live in an orphanage and he was later adopted by Armen Best and his wife Essa and went to live with them in Corydon, Indiana. As an MP, Best played a role in bringing stability to war-torn Germany immediately after their surrender, while stationed in Germany, Best transferred out of the MP and joined a special services unit of actors for the US Army that travelled around Europe performing plays for the troops. This was the beginning of his acting career. Best began his acting career with an uncredited role in the 1950 film. He was further cast as Private Ridges in the 1958 film adaptation of Norman Mailers The Naked, Best guest-starred more than 280 times in numerous television series. In 1954, he played the outlaw Dave Ridley, opposite Gloria Winters as the female bandit Little Britches in an episode of Stories of the Century, in 1954, Best appeared twice on the syndicated Annie Oakley series, starring Gail Davis and Brad Johnson. He was cast in the anthology series, Crossroads, in the 1956 episode The White Carnation. He was also cast on an episode of Jackie Coopers early NBC sitcom, The Peoples Choice and in the David Janssen crime drama, Richard Diamond, in 1960, Best appeared in the episode Love on Credit of CBSs anthology series, The DuPont Show with June Allyson. The same year, he guest starred on The Andy Griffith Show as The Guitar Player and he starred in three episodes of The Twilight Zone including The Grave, The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank and Jess-Belle. In 1963, he was cast as the courageous Wisconsin game warden, Ernie Swift, in the episode Open Season of another CBS anthology series, GE True, in the story line, Swift faces the reprisal of organized crime after he tickets gangster Frank MacErlane for illegal fishing. In 1962, he played the part of Art Fuller in the episode Incident of El Toro on CBSs Rawhide and in 1963, Best made two guest appearances on Perry Mason. In 1963 he played title character Martin Potter in The Case of the Surplus Suitor, the Green Hornet, The Mod Squad, I Spy and The Fugitive. Best played Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on CBSs The Dukes of Hazzard from the debut of the program in 1979 until the series ended in 1985 and this role was Bests most visible success. He later revealed that the persona of Sheriff Coltrane was developed from a voice that he used when playing with his young children. On set, Best was particularly close to Sorrell Booke, who played the character of Boss Hogg, who was both the boss and the brother-in-law of Rosco
2.
Laura Devon
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Laura Devon was an American actress, singer and model. Laura Devon was born May 23,1931 in Chicago and her birth name has been given as either Mary Lou Briley or Mary Laura Briley. Her father was identified in the press as Merrill Devon, an automotive engineer and she attended school in Chicago and Grosse Pointe. She entered Wayne State University, majoring in journalism and political science, in 1954, she gave birth to her only child, Kevin, who became a noted screenwriter. After performing in amateur theatricals and light opera, her first professional part was a lead in a production of The Boy Friend at the Vanguard Playhouse in Detroit. In 1962, she married Brian Kelly, son of Justice Harry F. Kelly, then a member of the Michigan Supreme Court and a former Michigan governor. Kelly was an actor and, a month after their wedding, he. Two years later, he was to become known for his role as Porter Ricks on the TV series Flipper. In 1961, Laura Devon was discovered by Bob Goldstein of 20th Century Fox while she was singing at the London Chop Shop in Detroit and she tells the story of her coming to Hollywood in this way, Devon appeared in five feature-length commercial films. During a seven-year period, Laura Devon had featured roles in numerous popular TV shows, a 1962 appearance in Route 66 was her first significant part. H. E. Cat, The Big Valley, Coronet Blue, and The Invaders and she had a recurring role on four episodes of Dr. Kildare and she was a member of the repertory cast that rotated major and supporting roles on the critically acclaimed series The Richard Boone Show. In 1967, she married film composer Maurice Jarre and retired from acting, Devon and Jarre divorced in 1984. Laura Devon released only one recording, a single, I Like the Look /Dreamsville. Both songs were composed by Henry Mancini and were featured in the film Gunn and she can be heard on the soundtrack to the 1975 film Mr. Sycamore, performing the song Time Goes By, written by her then husband, Maurice Jarre, and lyricist Paul Francis Webster. Laura Devon died of heart failure in Beverly Hills on July 19,2007, Laura Devon at the Internet Movie Database
3.
Anne Francis
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She won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award for her role in the series. Some sources erroneously claim she was born Ann Marvak in Ossining, New York, however, according to her parents marriage registration and census records from 1925 and 1930, her parents were Philip Ward Francis and Edith Francis. She entered show business at an age, working as a model at age five to help her family during the Great Depression. She made her Broadway debut at the age of 11, Francis made her film debut in This Time for Keeps. She played supporting roles in the films Susan Slept Here, So Young, So Bad and her best-known film role is that of Altaira in Forbidden Planet, an Oscar-nominated science-fiction classic. Francis was the star of a provocative 1960 movie about a call girl, Girl of the Night. In 1965, she had a role in the William Conrad film noir Brainstorm. In 1968, she played the role of Georgia James in the feature film Funny Girl and in the year, played Nancy Ingersoll in the comedy Hook, Line. She also co-starred in Impasse, a film starring Burt Reynolds. Her distinctive physical features were her blonde hair, striking blue eyes, the mole was even written into the script of one of her films. Francis found success in television and was a frequent guest star in 1960s, 1970s and she guest-starred on The Untouchables as the title character in The Doreen Maney Story, and appeared twice in The Twilight Zone. She also appeared in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and three episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Francis also appeared in two episodes of the Western series The Virginian and in the episode Incident of the Shambling Man on the CBS western, Rawhide. She was cast in an episode of Gene Kellys drama series, Going My Way, based on the 1944 film of the same name. During 1964, she guest-starred in two episodes, Hideout and Rachels Mother, of The Reporter, and made two appearances in The Man From U. N. C. L. E. She made a guest appearance in a 1967 episode of The Fugitive and she appeared in the 1967 episode, The Saucer, in The Invaders. She guest-starred in a 1973 episode, Murder In The Dolls House and she appeared twice as a guest star in Columbo, once as a casual lover of the murderer, and once as the actual murder victim. In 1974, she appeared as Ida, the madame of a house on the series Kung Fu in the episode Night of the Owls. In 1976, she appeared as Lola Flynn in an episode of Wonder Woman, in 1977, she appeared as Lieutenant Commander Gladys Hope, the head nurse in two episodes of the World War II series Baa Baa Black Sheep
4.
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
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The Twilight Zone is an American science-fiction, fantasy, psychological-supernatural horror anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. Each story typically features a moral and a surprise ending, the series is notable for featuring both established stars and younger actors who would become more famous later on. Serling served as producer and head writer, he wrote or co-wrote 92 of the shows 156 episodes. He was also the shows host and narrator, delivering monologues at the beginning, Serlings opening and closing narrations usually summarize the episodes events encapsulating how and why the main character had entered the Twilight Zone. In 2016, it was ranked No.8 on Rolling Stones list of the 100 greatest shows of all time, in 2002, The Twilight Zone was ranked No.26 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked it as the third best-written TV series ever, by the late 1950s, Rod Serling was a regular name in television. His successful teleplays included Patterns and Requiem for a Heavyweight, but constant changes and edits made by the networks, in Requiem for a Heavyweight, the line Got a match. But according to comments in his 1957 anthology Patterns, Serling had been trying to delve into more controversial than his works of the early 1950s. Despite bad reviews, activists sent numerous letters and wires protesting the production, the script, however, was rejected and shelved for a year until Bert Granet discovered and produced it as an episode of Desilu Playhouse in 1958. The show was a success and enabled Serling to finally begin production on his anthology series. There is a dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity and it is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of mans fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination and it is an area which we call The Twilight Zone. The Twilight Zone premiered the night of October 2,1959 and its the one series that I will let interfere with other plans, said Terry Turner for the Chicago Daily News. Even as the show proved popular to televisions critics, it struggled to find an audience of television viewers. CBS was banking on a rating of at least 21 or 22, the series future was jeopardized when its third episode, Mr. Denton on Doomsday earned a 16.3 rating. With one exception, the first season featured scripts written only by Rod Serling and these three were responsible for 127 of the 156 episodes in the series. Additionally, with one exception, Serling never appeared on camera during any first-season episode, Serling did appear on screen in Twilight Zone promotional spots plugging the following weeks episode – just not in the episodes themselves
5.
Van Cleave
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Van Cleave was a composer and orchestrator for film, television, and radio. Born in Bayfield, Wisconsin, he played with big bands, including Doc Fenton and his Sooners and Al Katz and he moved to New York City where he led his own band in the early 1930s, then played trumpet and arranged music for Charlie Barnets orchestra. In 1933, he married Doris Blumenfeld, a Broadway chorus girl and he studied music with noted composer and music theorist Joseph Schillinger. He worked in radio, as an arranger for Paul Whiteman, Andre Kostelanetz, Fred Waring. He invented new record needles with improved sound, and created the Duotone company, in 1945, Van Cleave moved to Los Angeles to pursue his musical career. His film credits, as composer and orchestrator, include Cinerama Holiday, The Colossus of New York, Easter Parade, Funny Face, Robinson Crusoe on Mars and he composed the VistaVision Fanfare to accompany the opening of theatre curtains to the wide screen format. In addition, he worked on many TV episodes of Gunsmoke and The Twilight Zone, Van Cleave at the Internet Movie Database Nathan Van Cleave at Soundtrack, the Cinemascore & Soundtrack Archives. VistaVision Fanfare Score at the University of Wyoming
6.
Jeanette Nolan
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Jeanette Nolan was an American radio, film, and television actress who was nominated for four Emmy Awards, in 1964,1966,1974 and 1978. She continued acting into the 1990s and she appeared regularly in several radio series, Young Dr. Malone, 1939–1940, Cavalcade of America, 1940–1941, Nicolette Moore in One Mans Family, 1947–1950, and The Great Gildersleeve, 1949-1952. She appeared episodically in many more and she made her film debut as Lady Macbeth in Orson Welles 1948 film Macbeth, based on Shakespeares play of the same name. Despite the fact that she and the film received withering reviews at the time, viewers of film noir may know her best as the corrupt wife of a dead police officer in Fritz Langs The Big Heat. She appeared on Rod Camerons syndicated series, State Trooper, Nolan was cast as Emmy Zecker in the 1959 episode Johnny Yuma of the ABC western series, The Rebel, starring Nick Adams. She appeared in two episodes of David Janssens crime drama, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, from 1959-60, she played Annette Deveraux, part-owner of the hotel in the CBS western series, Hotel de Paree, with Earl Holliman. In 1960, she appeared in season 4, episode 7, also, in 1962, season 5, episode 24, as proprietor of a secluded halfway house. She was cast in western films, most notably The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch. Nolan made six guest appearances on CBSs Perry Mason, including the role of murderer Mrs and she portrayed Janet Picard in the episode Woman in the River of the ABC/Warner Brothers detective series Bourbon Street Beat, starring Andrew Duggan. She gave a performance as a crazed old woman in the Parasite Mansion episode of NBCs Thriller. On April 27,1962, she appeared in the episode A Book of Faces on another ABC crime drama, Target, The Corruptors, starring Stephen McNally and she guest starred as Claire Farnham in the episode To Love Is to Live on the psychiatric medical dramaThe Eleventh Hour. She was cast as a teller, Mme. Di Angelo, in the 1963 episode The Black-Robed Ghost of the series, GE True. She was a member of the repertory cast of the The Richard Boone Show, appearing in 13 episodes. In 1963, Nolan was cast as Mrs. Mertens in the episode, Reformation of Willie, on the ABC drama series, Going My Way, coincidentally Going My Way followed the western series, Wagon Train, on the ABC schedule. Nolan herself appeared three times on Wagon Train, in which her husband, John McIntire, co-starred as wagon master Chris Hale from 1961-65. Nolan guest starred three times from 1963-64 on Dr. Kildare and in a 1964 episode of Richard Crennas short-lived Slatterys People, earlier, she had appeared with Crenna and Walter Brennan in their sitcom, The Real McCoys. On November 4,1965, Nolan portrayed the treacherous Ma Burns in The Golden Trail episode of NBCs Laredo, Ma Burns is a supposedly refined woman trying to hijack a presumed gold shipment headed to Laredo from St. Louis
7.
Virginia Gregg
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Virginia Lee Gregg was an American actress known for her many roles in radio dramas and television series. Born in the Illinois city of Harrisburg, she was the daughter of musician Dewey Alphaleta, when Gregg was 5, she and her family moved to Pasadena. She attended Jefferson High School, Pasadena Junior College and Pacific Academy of Dramatic Art, before going into radio, Gregg played the double bass with the Pasadena Symphony and Pops. She was a member of the Singing Strings group heard initially on KHJ in Los Angeles in 1937 and later on CBS, Gregg was a prolific radio actress, heard on such programs as The Adventures of Sam Spade, Dragnet, Dr. On the radio series Have Gun–Will Travel, Gregg portrayed Miss Wong and she had the role of Betty Barbour on One Mans Family and played Richard Diamonds girlfriend, the wealthy Helen Asher, on the radio series Richard Diamond, Private Detective. She later guest starred in an episode of the version of Richard Diamond. Gregg once said of her work as an actress on television, I work steadily. She added, When casting people have a call for a woman who looks like the wrath of God, Gregg may be best remembered for her many appearances in Dragnet. Jack Webb used her in dozens of roles on both the radio and TV versions of the show, as well as in the 1954 film version of Dragnet, in later years, she appeared on other shows produced by Webbs production company, Mark VII Limited. Gregg supplied the voice of Mrs. Bates in Psycho as did Jeanette Nolan and Paul Jasmin, only Gregg did the voice in the sequels Psycho II and Psycho III. She voiced Tarra on the 1967 animated TV series, The Herculoids and she reprised that role when the series was revived in 1981 as part of the Space Stars animated series. Gregg married producer Jaime del Valle in 1948, and they had three children, Gregg, Jaime, and Ricardo and they were divorced December 22,1959. She was active with the Recording for the Blind Inc. organization, making recordings as a volunteer, Gregg died from lung cancer in Encino, California, September 15,1986, aged 70. She was survived by her three sons, Gregg, Jaime and Ricardo del Valle, official website Virginia Gregg at the Internet Movie Database Virginia Gregg at Find a Grave
