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- Roman Gabriel, the great starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams during the late 1960s and early '70s, first achieved sports stardom at North Carolina State, where he was a two-time All-American at quarterback and an academic All-American. Such was his athletic prowess, setting virtually every NC State passing record, that on Jan. 20, 1962, Gabriel's jersey was officially retired and presented to him by North Carolina governor Terry Stanford. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame 27 years later, in 1989.
Roman Gabriel, Jr. was born on August 5, 1940 in Wilmington, North Carolina, the son of a Filippino immigrant who came to the U.S. in 1925, and his Irish-American wife. In 1962, he was the first round draft pick of both the NFL's Rams (and second player picked overall in the draft) and of the Oakland Raiders in the rival American Football League (first pick overall among all players). The Rams signed him for three years at $15,000, non-guaranteed; he eventually played 11 seasons for the Rams, from 1962 to '72. At 6'4" tall and 235-lb., Gabriel is considered the first large quarterback in NFL history.
In May of 1966, the Oakland Raiders signed Gabriel for the 1967 season, part of the AFL's raiding of the older league in an attempt to create parity and force a merger. Gabriel had been dissatisfied with the way he had been used by Rams coach Harland Svare, particularly irritated that he had been overlooked for starting assignments. He was ready to leave the Rams, but when the team hired George Allen as coach, he changed his mind. Under the legendary head coach, Roman Gabriel thrived as a starting QB. He won his first Pro Bowl berth in 1967, following it up with selections in 1968 and 1969, the latter being the year that he won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and also was MVP of the Pro Bowl.
In his years coaching the Rams, George Allen had a record of 49-17-4, the best of any coach in Rams history. Yet, owner Dan Reeves did not like him fired him after the 1968 season. The dismissal did not stick as the players revolted, and Reeves was forced to back down. However, Reeves would have his revenge: Despite having a winning season in 1970, Allen was fired by Reeves (who was dying of cancer; the team would soon change hands not once but twice in a short-time). The next two years, Gabriel's play was hampered by a torn tendon in the elbow of his throwing arm. In the ethos of the NFL of the time, Gabriel was derided as a "psycho" and a slacker, and expected to suit up and play in pain. (The novel and movie North Dallas Forty (1979) exposed this plantation mentality among NFL owners, many of whom had reputed links to organized crime.) His statistics suffered, and after the 1972 season, Don Klosterman, the newly appointed general manager of the team, acquired quarterback John Hadl from the San Diego Chargers.
Gabriel took the acquisition of a starting QB by the team as an affront and demanded a trade. Klosterman obliged. When he was traded from L.A. to the Philadeliphia Eagles, Roman Gabriel ranked as the Rams' all-time passing leader with 22,223 yards and 154 touchdowns, which are still team records, as are his passes attempted (3,313) and passes completed (1,705).
With Philadelphia in 1973, Gabriel led the league with 3,219 yards and 23 touchdown passes, winning him the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award and making the Pro Bowl. His total yards and his passing completion percentage of 58.7 were the best of his career. While with the Eagles (1973-77), he threw for 7,221 total yards and made 45 touchdowns.
Though in 1978, his career was all but over, George Allen -- newly returned to the team -- wanted Gabriel as a third-string QB and quarterback coach. However, Klosterman (and to a lesser extent Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom) made it clear to Gabriel that he was not wanted back, so Gabriel walked away from playing. He did not turn his back on the game, though, serving as the offensive coordinator of the Boston Breakers and Arizona Wranglers franchises in the short-lived USFL. He had a lackluster career as a head coach, leading the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks of the World League of American Football to a 0-10 mark in their first and only season of 1991-1992.
Possessed of a stellar physique and dark, good looks, Gabriel took advantage of living in country's major entertainment center and had a brief career in movies and television. He made his TV debut as a "native" on Gilligan's Island (1964) and his movie debut as a prison guard in Otto Preminger's notorious stinker Skidoo (1968). The highlight of his acting career was playing Blue Boy, the Native American adopted son of the legendary John Wayne in the horse opera The Undefeated (1969). On the set, Gabriel struck up a close friendship with co-star Rock Hudson.
Roman Gabriel and his wife Lisa are deeply committed to charity work in his North Carolina community. The couple have raised $4 million for charity through their RG Sports Connection trust. - Pretty, spunky, and talented blonde Linda Haynes was born on November 4, 1947 in Florida. Haynes made her film debut as Dr. Anne Barton in the silly Japanse sci-fi monster flick Latitude Zero (1969). Linda was excellent as brassy prostitute Meg in Jack Hill's terrifically trashy blaxploitation cult favorite Coffy (1973) and was likewise fine as small-time L.A. mobster Jason Miller's girlfriend Sarah in the downbeat crime drama The Nickel Ride (1974). Haynes gave her best, most gritty, and impressive performance to date as tough and world-weary barmaid and war hero groupie Linda Forchet, who befriends traumatized Vietnam veteran William Devane in the outstanding revenge thriller winner Rolling Thunder (1977). Linda had her sole starring role as country singer Rachel Foster in the sleazy women-in-prison exploitation outing Human Experiments (1979). Alas, following her appearances in both the prison drama Brubaker (1980) and the acclaimed made-for-TV feature Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980), Haynes called it a day as an actress and went on to work as a legal assistant in a law firm in Florida.
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Soundtrack
This boyish-looking New York-born actor of film and (especially) TV was born in 1928 and signed by Columbia at the onset of his teen career. Also known as Donald Dubbins, he started off playing earnest young cadet types in the war films From Here to Eternity (1953) (as a young bugler) and The Caine Mutiny (1954). It was superstar James Cagney who took a distinct liking to the rookie actor and prominently displayed him in two of his subsequent films. In These Wilder Years (1956), Dubbins played Cagney's long-lost adopted son and, in the western Tribute to a Bad Man (1956), he forms an unlikely romantic triangle with cattle boss Cagney and senorita Irene Papas. He also was at the mercy of Jack Webb's title character as a private in the Dragnet-styled military film The D.I. (1957). He subsequently played a frequent suspect on several episodes of the Dragnet 1967 (1967) series. Finishing up the 1950s, he was a part of the cast in the Jules Verne sci-fi picture From the Earth to the Moon (1958).
Although Dubbins never became a box office name, he certainly was a reliable asset on TV and was seen in a host of character roles over the years, not to mention a good number of smaller parts in such films as The Prize (1963) and The Learning Tree (1969). A character player adept at both good guys and bad guys, he retired completely in the late 1980s after filming episodes of Dynasty (1981), Highway to Heaven (1984) and Knots Landing (1979). He succumbed to cancer less than a decade later in 1991 at the age of 63.- Striking, pale-complexioned, blonde English actress Veronica Carlson was known as the female lead of several late 1960s Hammer horror films, including the hapless Maria being terrorized by fanged Christopher Lee in Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), brutalized by the evil Peter Cushing in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) and chased by monster David Prowse in The Horror of Frankenstein (1970).
After her career in horror, Carlson's star faded as quickly as it had risen, however she had assured herself a place in horror film history as one of the stunning women that graced the screen during the Hammer renaissance of the horror genre. - Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Costume Designer
Jennifer Butler was born on 24 October 1963 in Panorama City, California, USA. She was a costume designer, known for Groundhog Day (1993), Firestarter (1984) and The Last of the Mohicans (1992). She was married to Bill Murray. She died on 12 January 2021 in Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, USA.- Burly, craggy-faced tough guy actor George Mathews was brought up in Manhattan and educated in Brooklyn. He had an extensive career on stage, which began in the early 1930s, after he failed to get a job with the US Post Office. Instead, he joined the WPA (Works Progress Administration) Theatre Program, a government agency that provided jobs for the unemployed on public works projects during the Depression. He first appeared on Broadway in the key role of Dynamite Jim in "Processional" (1937). With his broad face, strong eyebrows, gravelly voice and jutting lower lip, Mathews was invariably cast as heavies or hard-as-nails military types. He appeared to great effect on stage in 1942-43 as Sgt. Ruby in "The Eve of St. Mark" on Broadway, and repeated his role in the film version (The Eve of St. Mark (1944)), a perfect showcase for his screen personae. Not just a one-note "plug ugly", he was equally as effective at portraying comic toughs, which he did in Pat and Mike (1952), becoming the recipient of some judo action meted out by Katharine Hepburn; and the Garson Kanin-directed musical comedy 'Do Re Mi' (1960-62), as Fatso O'Rear, starring Phil Silvers.
Mathews also acted in classical plays like "Antigone" (1946, as a guard) with Cedric Hardwicke and played Mitch in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1949-50), going on tour with fellow cast members Uta Hagen and Anthony Quinn. This performance garnered some critical accolades from Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times. In 1950, he joined Tyrone Power in a sell-out London production of "Mister Roberts" at the Coliseum Theatre, playing the role of the captain. In films, he was notable as the gambler Williams in the powerhouse drama The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) and as the sadistic Sheriff Bull Harper in the colorful western The Last Wagon (1956). Mathews also had a recurring role in the TV comedy series Glynis (1963), playing ex-cop Chick Rogers who aids and abets mystery writer and amateur sleuth Glynis Johns in solving a string of "whodunnits".
In private life, Mathews was the antithesis of the ruffians he often portrayed on screen: amicable and intelligent. Outside of his profession, he was an avid chess player and often participated in international tournaments. He retired from the acting profession in 1972 and died in South Carolina in November 1984. - Writer
- Actor
Mickey Spillane, the king of the pulp novelists in the post-WW II period, sold an estimated 200 million copies globally. He was born Frank Morrison Spillane in Brooklyn, New York. Young Frank's mother was a Protestant who bestowed on him his middle name "Morrison", but his Irish Catholic father, barkeep John Joseph Spillane, allegedly had his son baptized with the middle name "Michael", a traditional name for Irishmen (so common, in fact, that the nickname derived from it, "Mick", served as a derogatory term for Irishmen in both the US and England). "Women liked the name Mickey", Spillane said, explaining why he chose the moniker that eventually became one of the world's best-selling novelists. In 1980 seven of the top 15 all-time bestselling fiction books published in the U.S. had been written by Spillane.
Despite the fact that his books were international bestsellers, as a writer Spillane was almost universally reviled by literary critics. He and his novels were attacked not only for their alleged illiteracy but were denounced by the U.S. Senate's Kefauver Commission as promoting juvenile delinquency. Explaining the extraordinary appeal of his novels, Spillane simply said, "People like them." He countered his critics by saying they were jealous of his success. "I'm a writer, not an author," was Spillane's mantra all through his literary life. "The difference is a writer makes money." As late as 1999 Spillane told an audience at London's National Film Theatre, "Authors write, writers get paid." When he was asked about his literary influences, Spillane replied, "Dollars".
Spillane was brought up in the grimy industrial town of Elizabeth, NJ, in what he described as a "very tough" neighborhood. His mother provided him with balance inside the confines of the home, where he became a voracious reader, devouring all of the works of Alexandre Dumas and Herman Melville by the time he was 11 years old. While still a high school student, he "went professional" at the age of 14, writing for the Elizabeth Daily Journal. In 1935 he began submitting his work to magazines before aiming lower and learning his craft by writing for comic books, including such popular titles as "Batman", "Captain Marvel", "Captain America" and "Superman". "[It was] a great training ground for writers," Spillane explained. "You couldn't beat it."
After high school Spillane went to Kansas State College on a football scholarship before dropping out. He joined the Army Air Corps the day after Pearl Harbor, but never left the US, spending the war years flying fighter planes and teaching air cadets how to fly. Still a civil pilot after the war, Spillane claimed he had put in 11,000 hours in the air by 1999. In 1945 he married Mary Ann Pearce, the first of his three wives. The couple had two sons and two daughters.
After leaving the military, he briefly worked in the Barnum and Bailey Circus as a trampoline artist and adept knife-thrower. Subsequently he worked for the FBI as an undercover operative to crack a narcotics ring (the subject of the novel "Kiss Me, Deadly", not the atomic bomb plot of the movie). He claimed in interviews that he had been shot twice and had been knifed once. Eventually he went back to writing.
Influenced by Carroll John Daly, the pulp writer who created the seminal private eye Race Williams, Spillane made the P.I. genre his own. His work was in the vein of the "hard-boiled" Black Mask school of pulp fiction of the 1930s. As a pulp writer, Spillane's mantra was "violence will outsell sex every time." By combining them he created a formula for success that begat a book publishing phenomenon.
Spillane's innovation was to inject gory violence into P.I. stories for a generation of 16 million men who had just been through the most violent war in history. After the war, the popularity of slick magazines was eroding due to the booming market in paperbacks, pulp fiction that sold for 25 cents a copy. These new mass-market novels featured lurid covers that would attract a customer at what became the ubiquitous steel-wire racks filled with paperbacks that sprouted up at bus stations, lunch counters, shops and newsstands all over the world.
Spillane's style was perfect for the new post-war fiction market. He attributed his success to Roscoe Fawcett of Fawcett Gold Medal Books, who envisioned a market for original novels instead of the reprints of classic works that dominated the paperback market during World War II. Gold Medal started to market novels written directly for paperback, and by injecting gore into the PI genre, both Fawcett and Spillane won a gold medal for their staggering sales.
Second wife Sherri Malinou was a model who Spillane noticed when she was featured on the cover of one of his books.
Raymond Chandler said of Spillane, "Pulp writing at its worst was never as bad as this stuff." Spillane's books always featured a great hook in the opening pages, as he believed that "the first page sells the book". His narratives are first-person spoken monologues, directly addressed to the reader. Hammer is less a detective in the guise of Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op or Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe than he is a vigilante, always ready to partake in a bit of the old ultra-violence.
Spillane published his first Mike Hammer pulp, the infamous "I, the Jury', in 1947. Written in nine days, the book introduces Hammer as a tough-talking, hard-drinking bruiser.
Other Hammer books with the same formula of murderous mugs and even more dangerous, double-crossing malevolent dames followed: "Vengeance in Mine" (1950), "My Gun is Quick" (1950), "The Big Kill" (1951), and "Kiss Me, Deadly" (1952). Hammer was not only a two-fisted he-man, but each of those mailed fists typically clutched a large-caliber automatic. No dainty .32 Colts--the pistol of choice for the sophisticated detectives of the '20s and '30s--for Mike Hammer. His hirsute ham-fist sported a .45 ACP, the service pistol of the GI generation.
Mike Hammer was a true bellwether of the times, for rather than just go after criminals or garden-variety gangsters like self-respecting operatives of the '30s, he went after "Reds" and "Commies", the nation's bogeymen, and women who were stealing atomic secrets, adulterating Hollywood films with Red propaganda. In the potboiler "One Lonely Night" (1951), hammer wields a "Chicago typewriter" - a submachine gun - to tap out one-way tickets to heaven for 40 Commie heavies and fellow-travelers.
Though he eschewed politics in real life, he regarded himself as a patriot and was admired by prominent right-wingers for his anti-Communist stand. Novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand extolled Spillane, while movie cowboy John Wayne gave him a Jaguar XK140 roadster in 1956, a car he still had a half-century later (and in top working order). While Cold War critics often tried to make a link between Spillane and notorious Red-baiter Sen. Joseph McCarthy, when asked in 1999 if he approved of what McCarthy had done, Spillane replied, "McCarthy was a nit-head. He didn't know what was going on. He was a slob."
Spillane stopped writing for nearly a decade after converting to the Jehoavah's Witnesses in 1952. At this point he didn't need to write, as the royalties from the millions of copies of his books earned him a substantial income. In 1961 he returned to writing with "The Deep", arguably the best of the Mike Hammer novels. With the "Day of the Guns" in 1964 Spillane created a new series featuring secret agent Tiger Mann, a globetrotting spy who was America's answer to James Bond. Like Hammer, Mann was anti-Communist in the extreme and wiped out Reds with relish during the Cold War years of the 1960s. However, during Spillane's absence during the 50s, Ian Fleming (whom Spillane dismissed as "a gourmet") and other writers had stolen his thunder: the Tiger Mann series and Spillane's other non-series novels did not enjoy the vast sales of the '50s. The second part of Spillane's formula - sex - had lost its steam in the 1960s, after the collapse of censorship led to a proliferation of raw pornography and the availability of much more graphic, though serious, novels for the more thoughtful reader.
The Hammer novels did well in the visual media: there were two television series and multiple movies. The only distinguished film made from Spillane's works was Robert Aldrich's late noir Kiss Me Deadly (1955), now a cult classic. Spillane hated the film, which transmogrified the narcotics dealer plot of the novel into the theft of an atomic bomb (a true Cold War plot), which he found ludicrous.
Spillane took another hiatus from writing novels between 1973 and 1989, although he did write at two well-reviewed children's books, "The Day the Sea Rolled Back" (1979) and "The Ship That Never Was" (1982). He wrote the novels from the point of view of a child, he said, which explained their success. Though no longer a best-selling author, Spillane retained his fame during the 1970s due to his appearances in Miller Lite beer TV commercials. Although not a teetotaler, Spillane did not drink much, preferring an occasional beer over hard liquor, and he never smoked. He revived the Hammer franchise with "The Killing Man" in 1989, but Spillane, now in his 70s, was not a big seller. His last novel, "Black Alley" (1996), was published in 1996.
In retirement Spillane reportedly suffered a stroke. He lived, until his death, in Myrtle Beach, SC, with third wife Jane Rodgers Johnson, whom he married in 1983. He was an active Jehovah's Witness into his 80s, going from house to house to spread his faith and distribute copies of the "The Watchtower." He died on July 17, 2006, in Myrtle Beach from cancer. He was 88 years old.- Bettye Ackerman was born on 28 February 1924 in Cottageville, South Carolina, USA. She was an actress, known for Ben Casey (1961), Studio One (1948) and Return to Peyton Place (1972). She was married to Sam Jaffe. She died on 1 November 2006 in Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Actress
- Special Effects
June Kirby was born on 5 January 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Labyrinth (1986), The Dark Crystal (1982) and Supergirl (1984). She was married to Roy B. Whitlock and Bob Przybysz. She died on 6 March 2022 in Aiken, South Carolina, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Garry Moore was born on 31 January 1915 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for It Happened to Jane (1959), The Schaefer Century Theatre (1952) and Fireside Theatre (1949). He was married to Mary Elizabeth Knoernschild deChant and Eleanor Borum Little. He died on 28 November 1993 in Hilton Head, South Carolina, USA.- Terri Hinson Strickland was born on 24 April 1964 in the USA. She died on 14 December 2013 in Green Sea, South Carolina, USA.
- Peter Iacangelo was born on 13 August 1948 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Fight Club (1999), Times Square (1980) and Look Who's Talking Now (1993). He was married to Melody Marzola. He died on 17 November 2021 in West Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
- Gertrude Flynn was born on 14 January 1909 in New York, USA. She was an actress, known for I Want to Live! (1958), The Barefoot Contessa (1954) and Funny Girl (1968). She was married to Asa Cyril Bordages Jr.. She died on 16 October 1996 in Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Alex Jennings was a SAG-AFTRA actor and model, having been cast in multiple films (including Amblin and Lifetime), television (including HBO, AMC and OWN), regional and national television commercials (including Under Armour and John Hancock Financial), a music video, and an upcoming pilot. In addition to college theater/drama courses, he received private acting and voice coaching. After completing training with Vogue Models & Talent in Toronto, he appeared in print ads, professional photo shoots, and runway fashion shows. Jennings died on July 5, 2022 in Charleston, South Carolina after being hit by a car.- Melinda Ballard was born on 21 April 1958. She was married to Ronald Criss Allison, Michael Lee Dewvall, Emilio Tomas Pena and Bryan Jeffery Williamson. She died on 2 June 2013 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
- Ed Grady was born on 31 August 1923 in Kinston, North Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for The Notebook (2004), Lolita (1997) and A Simple Twist of Fate (1994). He was married to Carolyn Frances Ramsay and Diana Jayne Elliott. He died on 10 December 2012 in Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
- O'Neal Compton was born on 5 February 1951 in Sumter, South Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for Deep Impact (1998), Nixon (1995) and Big Eden (2000). He died on 18 February 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Pat Conroy was born on 26 October 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He was a writer, known for The Prince of Tides (1991), Conrack (1974) and The Lords of Discipline (1983). He was married to Cassandra King, Lenore Fleischer and Barbara Jones. He died on 4 March 2016 in Beaufort, South Carolina, USA.- Alicia Rhett was born on 1 February 1915 in Savannah, Georgia, USA. She was an actress, known for Gone with the Wind (1939). She died on 3 January 2014 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
- Writer
- Actor
Born Feb. 2nd, 1923 in Atlanta, Georgia, Dickey served in the U.S. Air Force during W.W. II and went on to earn a BA & MA from Vanderbilt University and become a celebrated American author & poet, winning numerous awards for his literary works.
To film goers, he is best known as the as the author of the best selling book turned gripping, psychological film Deliverance (1972) starring Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight. Dickey has a small, but pivotal role near the film's conclusion as a steely Southern sheriff who doesn't wholly believe the businessmen's story about the ill-fated canoe.
Dickey passed away on January 19th, 1997.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Fern Andre's show-business career started as an aerialist with a troupe that toured the U.S. and Europe. In Vienna she became a student of famed director/teacher Max Reinhardt and appeared in several of his plays and films. She soon settled in Berlin, where she starred in several productions for UFA Studios, some of which she also produced and directed. She also appeared in British and French films. In the sound era she returned to the United States, but after making only two films, she retired.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Charles Seabrook was born on 2 October 1956 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for Forrest Gump (1994), Shallow Hal (2001) and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995). He died on 19 May 2001 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.- James Robert 'Radio' Kennedy was born on 14 October 1946 in Anderson, South Carolina, USA. He died on 15 December 2019 in Anderson, South Carolina, USA.
- Johnny Aladdin was born on 26 November 1914 in Monessen, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Run for Your Life (1965), The Jean Arthur Show (1966) and Dragnet 1967 (1967). He died on 14 January 1987 in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA.
- Actress
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
On stage from the age of seven, Martha Sleeper began on screen in her early teens as a comic actress for Hal Roach. After her successful debut in the independently produced farce The Mailman (1923), she found herself cast in a series of child comedies with Buddy Messinger and a brace of one- and two-reel shorts opposite Charley Chase with titles like All Wet (1924) and Crazy Like a Fox (1926). Being voted a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1927 was a further boon to her popularity. An attempt was made to turn her into an eccentric knockabout comedienne in the vein of Gale Henry, but this failed to come off. She was subsequently used in rather more subtle domestic farce, such as in Pass the Gravy (1928) , as Max Davidson's daughter, frenetically trying to communicate with him by mime. Her last role of note in silent comedy was as a rather perfunctory leading lady in Stan Laurel's last solo effort, Should Tall Men Marry? (1928).
Her contract with Roach was not renewed due to a fiscal downsizing of the company in 1928, so Martha moved over to FBO. This was a Poverty Row outfit that specialized in low-budget features--often westerns--for the Midwest market. No prints of the six films Martha made for FBO are believed to have survived. After 1930, she bounced around among the studios, appearing in supporting roles--often as the "other woman"--in melodramas for MGM, Paramount and RKO. At the same time, growing ever more restless in Hollywood, she sought work on the stage. In an interview, she asserted that she had been given "permission to take jobs in the theater in downtown Los Angeles. That's unheard of, a contract player wanting to have time for stage work" (NY Times, April 7,1983).
In 1936, Martha and her actor-husband Hardie Albright left the West Coast for New York to begin a ten-year run on- and off-Broadway. At the same time she developed a lucrative sideline of designing idiosyncratic costume jewelry, mostly made from bakelite, wood and metal. This blossomed into a respectable $300,000-a-year business and earned Martha the sobriquet of "The Gadget Girl". Her varied creations--including tarantula brooches, necklaces of sun-drenched strawberries and collars of champagne bubbles and swizzle sticks--were hugely popular with the general public, the jet set and film stars like Dolores Del Río and Fay Wray.
In 1949, Martha settled on the island of Puerto Rico, sold her possessions in New York and reinvented herself yet again, as proprietor of a boutique in San Juan, designing and manufacturing fashionable women's clothes. She remained on the island until her retirement in 1969, spending her remaining years on her second husband's plantation near Charleston in South Carolina.- Robert Jordan was born on 17 October 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. He was a writer, known for The Wheel of Time (2021), The Age of Legends and The Wheel of Time (1999). He died on 16 September 2007 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Avery Crounse, an award winning director and photographer has written three theatrical feature films that have played worldwide. Avery, who also owns his own production company, Elysian Pictures, directed and wrote his first film in 1983, a western/horror film entitled "Eyes of Fire" starring Dennis Lipscomb and Guy Boyd. The film, which went on to become one of the most acclaimed films of 1984, was called by The New York Times as a "bizarrely fascinating story" and that "Crounse's visual imagination is extraordinary". Crounse's next film, "The Invisible Kid" starring Oscar nominee Karen Black, also received some critical acclaim. His most recent film, "Cries of Silence", also starring Karen Black, and Kathleen York and Ed Nelson was quoted by The Los Angeles Times as "an exquisite drama". "Cries of Silence" went on to win numerous awards including Best Picture and Best Actress for his daughter Erin Buchanan at the Giffoni International Film Festival. Besides Crounse's work in motion pictures, he is also an acclaimed photographer, his works have been published in American Photographer and is the subject of television documentary with his prints seen in over twenty countries. Crounse has most recently relocated to his home town of Paducah, Kentucky.- John Dickson Carr was born on 30 November 1906 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a writer, known for The Man with a Cloak (1951), Dangerous Crossing (1953) and The Burning Court (1962). He was married to Clarice Cleaves. He died on 27 February 1977 in Greenville, South Carolina, USA.
- Maggie Murdaugh was born on 15 September 1968 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. She was married to Alex Murdaugh. She died on 7 June 2021 in Islandton, South Carolina, USA.
- Cody Newton was born on 13 June 1987 in Union, South Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for The X Files (1998), The Greatest Adventure of My Life (2002) and The Runaway (2000). He died on 26 March 2016 in Union, South Carolina, USA.
- Actress
- Camera and Electrical Department
Lillian Ellison was born on 22 July 1923 in Tookiedoo, South Carolina, USA. She was an actress, known for WWF Championship Wrestling (1972), WWE Smackdown! (1999) and Saturday Night's Main Event (1985). She was married to Walter Carroll and Johnny Long. She died on 2 November 2007 in Columbia, South Carolina, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jean Carmen was born on 7 April 1913 in Portland, Oregon, USA. She was an actress, known for Arizona Gunfighter (1937), Born to Battle (1935) and The Painted Stallion (1937). She died on 26 August 1993 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.- Lois Battle was born on 6 October 1939 in New York, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Rat Patrol (1966), The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1965) and Ransom for a Dead Man (1971). She died on 17 June 2014 in Beaufort, South Carolina, USA.
- Jim Raman was born on 28 June 1976 in New York, USA. He was married to Misti Sturkie. He died on 11 March 2019 in South Carolina, USA.
- Actor
- Stunts
Bill Roberson was born on 21 August 1958 in Washington, North Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for Forrest Gump (1994), The Patriot (2000) and Patch Adams (1998). He was married to Hi Bedford. He died on 18 November 2017 in Columbia, South Carolina, USA.- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Bob Haymes was born on 29 March 1923 in White Plains, New York, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for The Wedding Singer (1998), The Gentleman Misbehaves (1946) and Sing While You Dance (1946). He was married to Dorrill (Dee) Workman and Dian Owens. He died on 27 January 1989 in Hilton Head, South Carolina, USA.- Robert C. Bruce was born on 6 October 1914 in White Salmon, Washington, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for This Is the Life (1952), Having a Wonderful Time with Angels in Dirty Places (1938) and Bravo, Mr. Strauss (1943). He was married to Catharine Burnap. He died on 24 August 2003 in Greenville, South Carolina, USA.
- Additional Crew
Bonnie Fay Todd was born on 12 October 1934 in Horry County, South Carolina, USA. She is known for Forensic Files (1996), City Confidential (1998) and Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets (2011). She died on 3 September 2014 in Conway, South Carolina, USA.- Actress
- Camera and Electrical Department
Mae Young was born on 12 March 1923 in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, USA. She was an actress, known for WWE Smackdown! (1999), WWE Raw (1993) and WWE Sunday Night Heat (1998). She died on 14 January 2014 in Columbia, South Carolina, USA.- Florence Allen was born in 1902. She was an actress, known for The Ace of Scotland Yard (1929), The Radio Detective (1926) and The Fire Fighters (1927). She died in 1985 in South Carolina, USA.
- Joy Claussen was born on 14 August 1938 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Chaplin (1992), For Pete's Wake! (2007) and Joanie Loves Chachi (1982). She was married to Tony Scully. She died on 12 October 2021 in Camden, South Carolina, USA.
- Lucy Mercer was born on 26 April 1891 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. She was married to Winthrop Chanler Rutherfurd. She died on 31 July 1948 in Aiken, South Carolina, USA.
- Sean O'Haire was born on 25 February 1971 in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for WCW Monday Nitro (1995), WCW Thunder (1998) and WWE Raw (1993). He was married to Joy Elizabeth. He died on 9 September 2014 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA.
- Joe Jackson was born on 16 July 1889 in Pickens County, South Carolina, USA. He was married to Katherine Wynn. He died on 5 December 1951 in Greenville, South Carolina, USA.
- William C. Westmoreland was born on 26 March 1914 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, USA. He was married to Katherine Stevens van Deusen and Katherine Van Deusen. He died on 18 July 2005 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
Johnny Mann was born on 30 August 1928 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Texas Lady (1955), Linus the Lionhearted (1964) and The Danny Kaye Show (1963). He was married to Elizabeth Jane (Betty) Weinmann, Lynn Marie Dolin and Lori Nelson. He died on 18 June 2014 in Anderson, South Carolina, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Chris Holloway was an American actor and stunt performer. He started his career in 2012. A former military police officer and a member of the National Guard, he was also an independent filmmaker. Originally from Georgia, he was later based in the Charleston, South Carolina area. He had four children.
He was a former member of Doomstrikers, a motorcycle club for Law Enforcement and First Responders. He also belonged to SAG-AFTRA and Epworth United Methodist Church.
He died, aged 33, in 2022, in Ladson, South Carolina from injuries sustained in a motorcycle collision.- Actor
- Director
Hugh began acting in public in the third grade. When he was 8 years old, he told his father that he wanted to go to Hollywood and be an actor, but his father discouraged it. He graduated Lee Senior High School and Central Carolina Community College, earning his Associate Degree in Communication. He also served in the US Air Force as a military policeman. Until 1995, his acting venues had been limited to stage, with leads in such productions as "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum" (Marcus Lycus), "South Pacific" (Luther Billis), and "Night Must Fall" (Inspector Belsize). In 1995 he began a recurring role on a local television kid's show. In 1997 he got the male lead in the VisualQuest production of a prospective television pilot entitled "Letters From The Shoebox". However, the project never got off the ground. Hugh continued his stage performances with "Driving Miss Daisy" (Hoke), "The Wizard of Oz" (Professor Marvel/Oz) and "To Kill A Mockingbird" (Reverend Sykes)- the former of which he won the local civic theater's version of the Oscar. In 2001, he had a major supporting role in the Dave Christiano film, Late One Night (2001). This union with Christiano won him the role of Jon Gates, a principal character on the light Christian drama 7th Street Theater (2007), which aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), as well as the NRB Network, Cornerstone Television and I-Life. In 2006, he had a guest role on the Christian sitcom, Pastor Greg (2005) and in 2008, showed up in two major films with religious themes; Me & You, Us, Forever (2008) (Paul) released by Five & Two Pictures, and the modern version of the John Bunyan classic Pilgrim's Progress (2008) (Evangelist), produced by DRC Productions and directed by Danny Carrales ("Final Exit" "The Gathering" "Escape From Hell").- Ione M. Telech was born on 10 April 1922 in Beaufort, South Carolina, USA. She was an actress, known for Forrest Gump (1994). She was married to Michael Hanville Sr. She died on 23 October 2015 in Beaufort, South Carolina, USA.
- Elizabeth von Arnim was born on 31 August 1866 in Kirribilli, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She was a writer, known for Enchanted April (1991), Mr. Skeffington (1944) and Enchanted April (1935). She was married to John Francis Stanley Russell and Count Henning August von Arnim. She died on 9 February 1941 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.