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- Of the tall, dark and handsome variety on '50s Broadway and in Hollywood, actor John Baragrey found steady work on TV soaps and in guest spots, but found regrettably few film offers, and those he did find were for the most part highly unmemorable. Born in Haleyville, Alabama, in 1919, he attended the University of Alabama and decided to make a go of it in acting, moving to New York for study. He toured the South Pacific with the USO play "Petticoat Fever" from 1943 to 1945 and met actress Louise Larabee, whom he later married.
Making his Broadway debut with "A Flag Is Born" (1946), he went on to appear in a host of plays on the big stage, including "The Enchanted" (1950), in which he played an amorous ghost,; "Pride's Crossing" (1950) with Mildred Dunnock; "The Devils" (1965) starring Anne Bancroft and Jason Robards; and "Murderous Angels" (1971). Other stage presentations he appeared in were "Richard III," "Elizabeth the Queen" and "The Crucible."
As for film work, Baragrey began promisingly, working with an impressive variety of actors and actresses, including Rita Hayworth in The Loves of Carmen (1948); Cornel Wilde in Shockproof (1949); and, in a lighter vein, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in Pardners (1956). Unfortunately, one of the last movies he appeared in has been widely regarded as possibly the worst sci-fi movie ever made (suffice it to say the Gammera the Invincible (1966) storyline has a fire-breathing flying turtle hovering over and torching Tokyo). The actor also starred in another sci-fi thriller that still divides audiences. The Colossus of New York (1958) handed Baragrey top billing as the son of a scientist who transplants his other son's brain into a robot that goes on a murderous rampage. Many think it's pretty much on par with "Gamera."
It was television that gave Baragrey wider recognition. He appeared on practically every showcase series in the 1950s, including "Studio One," "U.S. Steel Hour," "Campbell Sound Stage," "Motorola TV Hour," "Omnibus," and "Robert Montgomery Presents." His roster of TV leading ladies included Tallulah Bankhead, Bette Davis, Jane Wyman, Judith Anderson, Dolores Del Río, and Jane Powell. From 1962 to 1964 he appeared on the daytime soap The Secret Storm (1954) as Arthur Rysdale. In 1966, he churned out three episodes of the cult gothic soap Dark Shadows (1966) as a shady character in league with bad guy Burke Devlin (played by Mitchell Ryan).
In 1975, Baragrey died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 57 in his New York City home. His actress wife passed away in 1988. - Gustav Hasford was born in 1947, in Russellville, Alabama. He joined the Marines right out of school in 1967 and used his experiences as a Combat Correspondent in Vietnam to write his first novel, The Short-Timers, which Stanley Kubrick turned into Full Metal Jacket (1987). Hasford's second novel, published in 1990, was a sequel to The Short-Timers titled The Phantom Blooper. It detailed Private Joker's transformation after living in a Vietnamese village. Hasford's final novel, A Gypsy Good Time, was a dialogue-rich detective story. When he died of a heart attack in 1993 he was living on the island of Ithaca in Greece.
- Happy Wilson was born on 29 June 1919 in Haleyville, Alabama, USA. He was married to Marion Worth. He died on 24 August 1977 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
- Robert B. Aderholt was born on 22 July 1965 in Haleyville, Alabama, USA. He has been married to Caroline McDonald since 1994. They have two children.
- Gary Palmer was born on 14 May 1954 in Haleyville, Alabama, USA. He has been married to Ann Cushing since 19 November 1983. They have three children.