BoxRec

Dongee wrote:Rick:

When we lived in the area there was no street car running on Washington, but only on Grand, north and south. The trade school you mentioned was originally named Frank Wiggins Trade School. Until my dad and mom separated we lived at 117 West 18th street, a half block west of Main street, and just that far from the first movie theatre i ever attended, called the "Royal". In those days 18th street dead-ended at that theatre.

When I lived with my grandmother on Grand near Washington, there was a "Stan's Drive In" on the northeast corner of Washington and Grand amd almost directly across the street (Washington) there was a diner shaped like a chili bowl called.......what else...."The Chili Bowl" where they served fabulous bowls of chili.
That was, to me, the Golden Era in Los Angeles, where you had breakfast at a Thrifty Drug Store lunch counter for 49 cents, and dinner there for 89 cents, and where you paid 7 cents to ride the street car from downtown to Manchester (86th street and paid only $1.00 for a street car pass that was good fpr a whole week.

Good old days, of course.

Rick: what can you tell me about the old classic Carthay Circle Theatre that was only used occasionally at inflated prices for super-duper movies?

hap navarro

Hap . . . Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that 117 W. 18th St. sits right under the Interstate-10 freeway at the moment?
I know that 18th St. runs East & West, parallel to the freeway on it's south side.
Today, on the south side of 18th Street, just west of Main St. are buildings, however, across the street you look under the freeway.
I believe that 117 was on the north side of 18th St. under where the elevated freeway passes over? Just a guess.

That was just a few blocks from the Olympic, as you mentioned. Perhaps the property was a victim of freeway construction more than fifty years ago?
I'm attempting to visualize how things were back then. Fascinating to me!

By the way, I also appreciate knowing the street car tracks ran north & south on Grand Ave.
When I referred to tracks running east & west on Washington, I had it in my mind that the red car used to run on the street.
I believe I was thinking of Venice Blvd. where the Red Car would take you all the way down Venice Blvd. to the beach.
As a kid, did you ever take the Red Car to Venice Beach via Venice Bl.?

-Rick

kikibalt wrote:

How many of you remember these gas pumps? I do and so does Hap, I'm sure, Hap?

More than fifty years ago . . .

In the fifties, when I was very small, I recall a service station in the Cahuenga Pass area of Hollywood, right where Barham Blvd. ends at the Hollywood Fwy today.
It was an old station and it had this kind of pump. As a kid I'd see them occasionally. Seeing the gas in the pump caught my attemtion.
Today you'll find one at an old station located at Farmer's Market, like above.
The station is a non-working memory of another era.

Remember the old traffic signals?
The ones with the arms that would come out and say "Go" and then change to the other arm that would say "Stop"?

And what about "Air Raid" sirens? We'd have air raid drills every week in elementry school during the cold war years.

Polio shots? And those little sugar cubes we took with the polio vaccine?

Parents striking children was not an issue.
If the parents didn't do it at home when the kids needed discipline, the school principal would.
Our principal had a paddle with holes in it. It had a little sting, but no big deal. I got used to it, I was a regular.

And "Bomb Shelters"?. In the late 50's and early 60's, we American's took the "A-Bomb" seriously.
I remember a guy my father worked with had a bomb shelter built in his back yard.
At first he had it stocked with food, etc. A few years later, he turned it into a wine celler.

When the Russians finally came, it wasn't to bomb us. They just moved in.


-Rick

Rick:
Our home at 117 W. 18th street was demolished along with several others when they cut Broadway through. It sat right in the middle of what became the intersection of 18th and Broadway. You see, Broadway used to end somewhere closer to downtown. I believe the first street west of Main in that area was Hill street until they extended Broadway south. And you are right about the red car running on Venice Blvd. all the way to the beach. I never took that red car, but instead rode the red car out of fifth and Hill all the way to Hollywood, usually for a dime, going lickety-split with only a few stops along the way.
Another way the Olympic was unique was that on fight nights there was a popcorn peddler stationed at the corner of 18th and Grand, near one of the ticket windows, with a steam-driven whistle on his cart that told you the peanuts and popcorn were hotly fresh. I never could resist that guy even as a grown man, although I preferred to hit the beer bars inside as I grew older. Speedy Dado hawking his Knockouts was never far from that corner popcorn cart.
One fight night in the 1950s Manuel Ortiz and I were talking at one of the concession stands in the back of the arena when Art Aragon passed by carrying two cups of beer. He nodded to us, and bumped into Manuel slightly, almost spillng his beer on us. Ortiz was furious for a few seconds and yelled at Art to come back, but Aragon kept right on going, leaving Manuel in a huff for me to quiet down. Before continuing our conversation, Manuel mumbled "Golden Boy....hah!"

hap navarro

Hap and Rick,

I enjoyed very much reading about the good old days that you experienced---so much interesting information. About all I remember is the street cars. I only took a street car one time somewhere in downtown Los Angeles in 1963. I also remember the Alexandria Hotel where all the fighters from Mexico came to stay and to fight at the Forum for George Parnasus.

I have a question for both of you.

When I was a kid in Guadalajara my family and I would gather around a small radio that my uncle would bring to our house and put on the only one very small table we had in our house. We had no chairs but would all sit on the dirt floor to listen to the fights when my cousin, Jose Becerra was fighting. It was a big night for us. I remember the names of some of the fighters he fought. To me they sounded like great fighters. I was only about 10 or 11 years old ath the time.

Do you remember any of these fighters? Manuel Armenteros, Jose Luis Mora,
German Ohm, Hector Agundez, Miguel Lazo, Pime Barajas, Mario D'Agata.
(I have a record book to help me with these names). But I never knew any of them. I was just wondering what type of fighters they were and how good.

El Gato

Champ:

You probably just missed seeing Pimi Barajas, German Ohm, and Hector Agundez perform because they were active just before you hit the limelight. To me they were typical Mexican schooled fighters. Agundez lived in Imperial Valley for a while, so I would see him around the border ssometimes. Mario D'Agata I believe was either deaf or mute. Armenteros was a sturdy, stocky featherweight built along the lines of this new welterweight named Berto.

Kiki and Rick can fill you in on some of those fighters, too.

Saludos Campeon

hap navarro

I remember watching Sammy fight a few times in the early 1950's, remember that he fought and beat Al Galindo on the Carter/Aragon title card, it was a good action fight.

Dongee wrote:Rick:
Our home at 117 W. 18th street was demolished along with several others when they cut Broadway through. It sat right in the middle of what became the intersection of 18th and Broadway. You see, Broadway used to end somewhere closer to downtown. I believe the first street west of Main in that area was Hill street until they extended Broadway south. And you are right about the red car running on Venice Blvd. all the way to the beach. I never took that red car, but instead rode the red car out of fifth and Hill all the way to Hollywood, usually for a dime, going lickety-split with only a few stops along the way.
Another way the Olympic was unique was that on fight nights there was a popcorn peddler stationed at the corner of 18th and Grand, near one of the ticket windows, with a steam-driven whistle on his cart that told you the peanuts and popcorn were hotly fresh. I never could resist that guy even as a grown man, although I preferred to hit the beer bars inside as I grew older. Speedy Dado hawking his Knockouts was never far from that corner popcorn cart.
One fight night in the 1950s Manuel Ortiz and I were talking at one of the concession stands in the back of the arena when Art Aragon passed by carrying two cups of beer. He nodded to us, and bumped into Manuel slightly, almost spillng his beer on us. Ortiz was furious for a few seconds and yelled at Art to come back, but Aragon kept right on going, leaving Manuel in a huff for me to quiet down. Before continuing our conversation, Manuel mumbled "Golden Boy....hah!"

hap navarro

Hap, Oklahoma City was a one-promoter town when I was involved in the game.

You talk about going to the Olympic when you were matchmaker at the Hollywood Stadium. What kind of relationship did the promoters in LA have with one another? Did you frequently attended one another's shows? Was it for the most part a friendly rivialry? I have always been kind of interested in how that worked since I had no experience with it in Oklahoma City.

It would have been very interesting to see what would have happened if Aragon had heard Ortiz and come back!

OVER HERE IN MUNICH

Everone speaks English. Listens to American music. U.S. logos on the clothes. Pizza and Bud. What am I doing here? Haven t found a good beer stein yet.

Anybody remember Dentist Painless Parker?

The Life and Times of Painless Parker

by Elizabeth Giangrego

“God hates those who do not take care of their teeth.”
—Edgar Randolph “Painless” Parker, DDS (1872-1952)

Painless Parker was a flamboyant dentist who used show girls, circuses and whatever other distractions he could think of to bring dentistry to the masses. He also fathered the modern concept of a group dental practice, in which all services are available under one roof.
Dancing girls aside, Parker was a 19th century proponent of preventive dentistry, a tireless promoter of dentistry for the working class, and a man who believed in advertising. Attired in a top hat, crisp white coat and a necklace made of teeth he’d extracted, Parker once operated a traveling circus/dental clinic and hired brass bands to play as he extracted teeth. However, in the end he operated 30 West Coast dental offices, employed 75 dentists and grossed $3 million per year. Labeled “a menace to the dignity of the profession” by the American Dental Association, most of his colleagues detested Parker, considering him a quack—whether it was because of the outrageous promotion of his business or because of his success remains unknown.

Canadian by birth, Parker entered Philadelphia Dental College in 1890. The school, now the Temple University School of Dentistry, is the proud owner of a wooden bucket of teeth removed by Painless Parker.

Parker believed that patients avoided dentistry because of pain, ignorance, procrastination and lack of money—and of these, fear was the strongest deterrent. Working with a local druggist, Parker developed hydrocaine, an analgesic that contained cocaine. After testing the drug on himself, Parker took his show on the road—literally. Parker began as a “street dentist,” setting up a dental chair on the back of a wagon. He offered to extract teeth for 50 cents, and he guaranteed patients that if they felt pain, he would reimburse them $5.
He billed himself as “Painless Parker, the famous dentist,” promising to fix teeth at a reasonable price using the “E.R. Parker System,” which sometimes meant that he contracted with a bugler who stood behind the patient and let fly with a mighty blast at the precise moment that Parker extracted the tooth.

Parker’s bombastic methods did not endear him to his colleagues. The Canadian Dental Association, for example, passed a rule designed specifically to put Parker out of business. Authorities arrested him for practicing without having paid a $2 registration fee, a requirement which had become effective two days before Parker’s apprehension.

Parker eventually opened shop in Brooklyn, NY. His public demonstrations often began with fervent dental health sermons and poetry readings. He frequently extracted teeth to the sound of drumbeats, which drowned out any yelps of patient pain. By 1904, Parker was worth a half-million tax-free dollars and owned an estate on Long Island. However, when New York state law forbade dentists the use of an assumed name, he packed his bags and moved to California.

Parker opened shop on a Los Angeles street in 1906, beginning with his usual vigorous lecture on the evils of tooth neglect and the horrors of decay. Within four years, Parker amassed a fortune well in excess of what he earned in New York and earned the ire of his California colleagues.

Attacked as unethical and incompetent, Parker retaliated with a series of advertisements in which he alleged that other dentists charged exorbitant fees, catered to the wealthy and ignored the needs of the indigent. By 1914, with his successful dental circus on the road, Parker’s advertisements painted organized dentistry as a trust that would prefer to see an edentulous nation rather than lower its fees. Hauled into court innumerable times, Parker beat every case. However, in 1915, he officially changed his named to “Painless” so that he could use the name “Painless Parker.” He founded the California Dental Supply Company, in his wife’s name, and every dentist who worked for him had to lease space and equipment from him.

By the time he died in November 1952, Parker, who had diversified into real estate, was a multi-millionaire. During his life, he popularized dentistry, convinced people that oral health was important and created the modern group practice concept that became the model eventually adopted by the military during World War II.

He is also the only dentist to have extracted 357 teeth in one afternoon on a vaudeville stage.

Reprinted by permission of the Chicago Dental Society. Orginally published in the CDS Review, Sept/Oct 2005.

dagosd2000 wrote:OVER HERE IN MUNICH

Everone speaks English. Listens to American music. U.S. logos on the clothes. Pizza and Bud. What am I doing here? Haven t found a good beer stein yet.

Roger, allow me to assist you in that quest! Go to my favorite restaurant in Munich. I believe it is spelled "Donesil's" or "Donisel's" (Its pronounced the way its spelled), and it has great Bavarian food and German beer. Its located in the Marienplatz near the city hall.

Another great place is the Löwenbräukeller north of the train station.

Germany and Sweden are to me and Linda as Spain is to you and your wife. We'd go there every Summer if we could afford it!

In fact, when I retire, my "dream" is to live from May to September in Karlshamn, Sweden (and from September to May, in my favorite USA city - San Diego).

Farrah Fawcett dies at 62; actress rose above 'Charlie's Angels'


Warner Bros.
Fawcett starred in the 1989 family drama "See You in the Morning," with Jeff Bridges, Macaulay Culkin and Heather Lilly.

A rare cancer claims the 1970s pinup beauty. First known for her looks and hairstyle, she captivated critics with 'Burning Bed' and other serious roles. Later, she chronicled her illness.
By Valerie J. Nelson

Farrah Fawcett, who soared to fame as a national sex symbol in the late 1970s on television's campy "Charlie's Angels" and in a swimsuit poster that showcased her feathery mane and made her a generation's favorite pinup, died today at 62, according to Reuters.

Fawcett, whose celebrity overshadowed her ability as a serious actress, was diagnosed with a rare anal cancer in 2006.

Three months after she was declared cancer-free in 2007, doctors at UCLA Medical Center told her the cancer had returned, spreading to her liver, and she repeatedly sought experimental treatment in Germany.

As an actress, Fawcett was initially dismissed for her role as Jill Munroe in "Charlie's Angels," one of the "jiggle" series on ABC-TV in the late 1970s.

But she transformed her career and some popular perceptions in 1984 with "The Burning Bed," a television movie about a battered wife that brought her the first of three Emmy nominations. She further established herself as an actress in the play and later feature film "Extremities," about a rape victim who takes revenge on her attacker.

For many, the poster of her wearing a wet one-piece swimsuit and a blinding smile endured.

"If you were to list 10 images that are evocative of American pop culture, Farrah Fawcett would be one of them," Robert Thompson, a professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University, told The Times. "That poster became one of the defining images of the 1970s."

Yet Fawcett was part of a new generation of celebrities whose fame was fueled by heightened coverage of their ongoing personal dramas, Thompson said.

She had many: a failed marriage to actor Lee Majors; a stormy, long-term relationship with actor Ryan O'Neal; a son who fought drug addiction; a writer-director boyfriend, James Orr, who was convicted of assaulting her; a Playboy video that featured her using her naked body as a paintbrush; and a spacey 1997 appearance on David Letterman's late-night TV show that caused critics to question her mental state.

For her part, Fawcett once said all she had to do to get on the cover of People was to "have a new boyfriend or even a new dog," Texas Monthly reported in 1997.

At first, her mane nearly eclipsed her fame.

"Charlie's Angels" showcased the long, feathered tresses that framed her face, launching a national fad of copycat haircuts. Many Fawcettphiles believed the hair had as much to do with the poster's sales as anything, The Times reported in 1977.

Within six months, the poster sold five million copies, outstripping the records of such previous sex symbols as Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe. It wound up selling a reported 12 million copies.

"You were a real man if you had her poster. She was our pinup girl," Mike O'Meara, a radio show host who was in high school when it came out, told the Baltimore Sun in 2006.

Fawcett quit the series that brought her initial fame in 1977 after a single season, saying producers were preventing her from growing as an actress. With Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith, Fawcett had played a private investigator whose main talent seemed to be the ability to wield a gun while going braless and shouting, "Freeze, turkey!"

"Charlie's Angels" was so popular that 59% of the television audience tuned in, according to Time magazine, and the Los Angeles Times' review of the series premiere pointed out why: The show dripped with "sexuality" and "good-natured but quite intentional teasing."

Along with "Three's Company" -- a double-entendre-filled ABC sitcom that debuted six months after "Charlie's Angels" in fall 1976 -- the show is credited with helping to launch television's "jiggle" era. Still, the show was seen as empowering women, even if they did take their orders from an unseen male boss named Charlie.

"In an odd way, even with all that Lycra and bralessness, the show was a feminist statement," Thompson said. "This was an hourlong drama with women as action heroes. They were working in areas of power that generally we didn't see women in much."

Fawcett, who had appeared in shampoo ads, would triumph over critics who dismissed "Charlie's Angels" as little more than a commercial for hair products. But first she appeared in two lightweight feature films: "Somebody Killed Her Husband" (1978) and "Sunburn" (1979).

She surprised critics with her intense portrayal of the battered wife who immolates her husband in the TV movie "The Burning Bed." The 1984 Times review noted her "growing acting skill" and "deeply moving performance."

The phrase "Burning Bed" entered Hollywood's lexicon as shorthand for actresses who wanted to be taken seriously. "Managers would call and say, 'She'd like to do her 'Burning Bed,' " Robert Greenwald, the film's director, told The Times in 1999.

The off-Broadway play "Extremities" provided another dramatically taxing showcase in 1983. Following Susan Sarandon in the starring role, Fawcett broke her wrist during a fight scene and lost weight because the part was so physically demanding. She also earned respectable reviews.

When the film of "Extremities" followed in 1986, The Times' Charles Champlin called her performance "further declaration of her arrival as a serious and intelligent actress who happens to be beautiful."

Robert Duvall cast Fawcett as his wife in his 1997 independent film "The Apostle," about a Texas Pentecostal preacher who escapes to Louisiana after accidentally killing his wife's lover. Again, she won praise.

"That woman's work has been very underrated," Duvall told Texas Monthly, citing her Emmy-nominated performance in "Small Sacrifices," a 1989 TV movie in which her character kills her children. "That woman knows how to act."

With O'Neal, with whom she had a son, she starred in "Good Sports," a short-lived 1991 CBS sitcom that was her last network television series. She received her final Emmy nomination in 2003 for guest-starring on "The Guardian" on CBS.

Farrah Leni Fawcett was born Feb. 2, 1947, in Corpus Christi, Texas, to James Fawcett, who founded a pipeline construction company, and his wife, Pauline. Her older sister, Diane, died of lung cancer in 2001.

While studying painting and sculpture at the University of Texas at Austin, Fawcett was used to being judged by her looks. College men lined up to meet the freshman at her sorority in 1965, her college boyfriend told Texas Monthly. After she was voted one of the 10 most beautiful women on campus, a Hollywood publicist came calling.

Her parents wanted her to finish college before coming west, but they gave in after her junior year. Within two weeks of arriving, Fawcett had an agent and a significant other -- Majors, who had arranged an introduction after seeing her photograph, she often said.

She signed a contract with Screen Gems, Columbia's television subsidiary, and got bit parts on shows such as "The Flying Nun" and " The Partridge Family."

Majors married Fawcett in 1973 and became "The Six Million Dollar Man" on ABC a year later. She sometimes appeared on the series.

Her contract for "Charlie's Angels" stipulated that she had to be home every night by 6:30 to make Majors' dinner at their Bel-Air home, but the domesticity didn't last. While on location in 1979, Majors arranged for his dashing buddy O'Neal to look in on Fawcett. By fall, she had moved into O'Neal's Malibu beachfront home, Time magazine reported in 1997.

They stayed together for 17 tumultuous years but never married, although O'Neal said this week that the seriously ill Fawcett had said yes to his latest marriage proposal. "As chaotic and crazy as their relationship is, I don't know who could put up with the two of them better than each other," her friend Alana Stewart said in the Time article.

In 1985, Fawcett and O'Neal became the parents of a son, Redmond, whose teenage exploits were tabloid staples. From age 13, he had been in and out of drug treatment programs and has admitted abusing heroin, the London Daily Express reported in 2007. He has had several drug-related arrests in the last year.

Redmond, now 24, was allowed to temporarily leave jail April 25 to visit his mother at her home. In April, he was arrested on charges of trying to smuggle drugs into a jail facility in Castaic and recently was admitted to a court-ordered rehabilitation program.

When Fawcett and O'Neal broke up in 1997 -- she attributed it to conflicts over parenting -- it was the beginning of a troubled time for her.

First, another actress accused her of stealing $72,000 worth of clothes. Then Fawcett appeared on Letterman's show to promote the video that showed her hurling her gold-painted naked body against a canvas. Chatting with the host, she looked disoriented and sounded incoherent. She repeatedly claimed it had been an act.

Orr, a sometime boyfriend, was convicted of slamming Fawcett's head to the ground and choking her during a fight. She admitted smashing windows at his Bel-Air mansion with a baseball bat. The couple got back together but broke up for good before he was sentenced to three years' probation, The Times reported in 1999.

For years, Fawcett lived in the Bel-Air home she bought with Majors in 1976; it was sold for $2.7 million in 1999. More recently, she called a Beverly Hills condo home.

Fawcett's relationship with O'Neal was on-again, off-again after their breakup. She helped nurse him back to health after he was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia in 2001; and he was there for her soon after she was diagnosed with anal cancer.

Two breast cancer survivors also rallied to her side: Smith and Jackson, her "Charlie's Angels" costars.

When tabloids quickly reported her cancer recurrence in 2007, Fawcett suspected that details of her medical care were being leaked. Her complaints led UCLA Medical Center to dismiss an employee who had surreptitiously reviewed Fawcett's medical records and those of more than 30 other high-profile patients. A new state law aimed at protecting patient privacy also grew out of the records violations

Forced to battle her cancer publicly, Fawcett made "Farrah's Story," a video diary that unsparingly chronicled her struggle to fight the disease and efforts to protect her privacy. It aired on NBC in mid-May.

Throughout the documentary, O'Neal is a steady presence. In May, O'Neal told People magazine: "I won't know this world without her."

In addition to her son, Fawcett is survived by her father.

[email protected]

Dongee wrote:Rick:
Our home at 117 W. 18th street was demolished along with several others when they cut Broadway through. It sat right in the middle of what became the intersection of 18th and Broadway. You see, Broadway used to end somewhere closer to downtown. I believe the first street west of Main in that area was Hill street until they extended Broadway south. And you are right about the red car running on Venice Blvd. all the way to the beach. I never took that red car, but instead rode the red car out of fifth and Hill all the way to Hollywood, usually for a dime, going lickety-split with only a few stops along the way.
Another way the Olympic was unique was that on fight nights there was a popcorn peddler stationed at the corner of 18th and Grand, near one of the ticket windows, with a steam-driven whistle on his cart that told you the peanuts and popcorn were hotly fresh. I never could resist that guy even as a grown man, although I preferred to hit the beer bars inside as I grew older. Speedy Dado hawking his Knockouts was never far from that corner popcorn cart.
One fight night in the 1950s Manuel Ortiz and I were talking at one of the concession stands in the back of the arena when Art Aragon passed by carrying two cups of beer. He nodded to us, and bumped into Manuel slightly, almost spillng his beer on us. Ortiz was furious for a few seconds and yelled at Art to come back, but Aragon kept right on going, leaving Manuel in a huff for me to quiet down. Before continuing our conversation, Manuel mumbled "Golden Boy....hah!"

hap navarro

Hap . . . 18th & Broadway. Thanks for the info. It's fascinating for me to visualize what once was in L.A.
For some reason I connect to Los Angeles past. I always enjoy your history.


-Rick

Peace to you, Farrah Fawcett.

Seen Riley fight a few times in the 1950's

Me trying to look as cool as El Gato (and Frankie) on a bike.

This kind of explains why.

Michael Jackson is dead [Updated]
2:06 PM | June 25, 2009

[Updated at 3:15 p.m.: Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Times.]

[Updated at 2:46 p.m.: Jackson is in a coma and his family is arriving at his bedside, a law enforcement source told The Times.

Jackson was rushed to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center this afternoon by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics.

Fire Capt. Steve Ruda said paramedics responded to a call at Jackson's home at 12:26 p.m. He was not breathing when they arrived. The paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation and took him to the hospital, Ruda told The Times.

[Updated at 2:12 p.m.: Paramedics were called to a home in the 100 block of Carolwood Drive off Sunset Boulevard. Jackson had rented the Bel-Air home for $100,000 a month. It was described as a French chateau estate built in 2002 with seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, 12 fireplaces and a theater.

The home is about 2 1/2 miles, about a six-minute drive, from UCLA Medical Center. An earlier version of this post incorrectly described the time to travel between the home and hospital as two minutes.]

The news comes as Jackson, 50, was attempting a comeback after years of tabloid headlines, most notably his trial and acquittal on child molestation charges.

In May, The Times reported that Jackson had rented the Bel-Air residence and was rehearsing for a series of 50 sold-out shows in London's O2 Arena. Jackson had won the backing of two billionaires to get the so-called "King of Pop" back on stage.

His backers envision the shows at AEG's O2 as an audition for a career rebirth that could ultimately encompass a three-year world tour, a new album, movies, a Graceland-like museum, musical revues in Las Vegas and Macau, and even a "Thriller" casino. Such a rebound could wipe out Jackson's massive debt.

—Andrew Blankstein and Phil Willon

bennie wrote:


Me trying to look as cool as El Gato (and Frankie) on a bike.

You do look "cool", Bennie, btw have you ever ridden a Harley?

kikibalt wrote:

bennie wrote:


Me trying to look as cool as El Gato (and Frankie) on a bike.

You do look "cool", Bennie, btw have you ever ridden a Harley?

Bennie does look cool on that bike.
Looks a bit like Brando in "The Wild One". seriously.

Three celebrities gone .....almost simultaneously, to be missed by millions.

h.n.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSqo17o2a1w
"Ben"

Michael Jackson

Tom Kennedy . . .

Having been involved in both professional boxing and film making, I've become familiar with a number of ex-prizefighters who have retired to work in the film industry, both in front of and behind the camera.
None to my knowledge did so as successfully as Tom Kennedy.

In recent years, thanks to guys like Hap Navarro, my friend John Kennedy and my own personal research, I've come to learn a bit about this very interesting personality in the history of Classic American West Coast Boxing.

Kennedy was born in 1885 to a very wealthy family. He was a big strong kid, and in 1908 won the National AAU heavyweight title.
He didn't need money or a career in pro boxing to survive in the early past of the last century, but he loved boxing and turned pro.
During his pro career he won as many as he lost, fighting guys like Jess Willard, Battling Levinsky, Bombardier Billy Wells, and Carl Morris.
Most of his fights were in New york.

When Kennedy retired from boxing, he opened a Saloon in NYC.
In 1915, when a man was shot to death in the saloon, he fled to California rather than serve as a witness.
In Hollywood Tom managed and promoted fighters, and joined his brother working in Hollywood as an actor.
During the Depression, the Kennedy family lost their entire fortune, however, Tom Kennedy could make money on his own.

Tom Kennedy would end up acting thruout the silent and sound eras, and became famous as one of the "Keystone Kops".
He'd work with Laurel & Hardy, and other Hollywood legends.
Kennedy would continue to have small rolls in many major films right up to his death in the mid-60's at age 80.

When I went to work in the film industry in the mid-70's, I broke in with another lighting technician named John Kennedy.
John was Tom Kennedy's grandson, and when he learned I had been a boxer he asked if I knew of his grandfather.
At the time, I'd heard the name, but but really didn't know who he was other than a former promoter or matchmaker.

A few years back, while posting on the Hap Navarro thread of the CBZ, I would learn much more about Kennedy.
Hap would tell of Kennedy being a matchmaker at the legendary Hollywood Legion Stadium in the early 20's, about a quarter century prior to Hap filling the same slot.
One of the best photos I have seen of Tom Kennedy was taken at a meeting of boxing personalites back around 1950.
Sitting in chairs before tha camera were Tom Kennedy, Hap Navarro, a young Don Chargin, Fidel La Barba and others.

Shortly after Hap had forwarded me a print of this photo, I crossed paths with John Kennedy for the first time in more than a dozen years.
I told John of the photo, as well as other info I'd obtained on his Grandfather from Hap Navarro.
I was lighting Desperate Housewives at the time, and John was working on CSI, shooting on the stage next to ours.
When we met, I called Hap from the studio and he spoke with John about his Grandfather.
John Kennedy was grateful to have spoke with Hap Navarro, and I would learn a few more "family" stories involving his grandfather.

Tom Kennedy, a name from boxing past.


-Rick Farris

Ed McMahon a day or so ago, and then today Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.

I still remember the first time I saw Farrah Fawcett. It was a commercial for Prell Shampoo. She stuck her head out of the shower with that gorgeous hair of hers framing her face. She was stunning. It made such an impression I never forgot it. A beautiful lady. Parts of her life seemed more chaotic than others but she seemed to handle it with grace and aplomb. Rest in peace.

Michael Jackson was more of an enigma. He was one of the most talented and famous entertainer of his time, on par with Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presly and the Beatles but he was also a troubled individual. There's no need for me to go into any of it. I wish him peace.

Ed McMahon seemed to live a full and happy life and was content to play second fiddle to Johnny Carson for most of his career. Not a bad job. I hope he sees his old pal up there.

Let's not forget David Carradine who died a few weeks ago. An under rated actor that never really got the roles that he wanted. No one else could have played Kwai Chang Caine in "Kunf Fu".

bennie wrote:


Me trying to look as cool as El Gato (and Frankie) on a bike.

Bennie, you look like epitome of cool!

Randy

bennie wrote:

This kind of explains why.

Bennie, you two look so genuinely happy! What a beautiful couple!!

Randy