Classic American West Coast Boxing

[kikibalt]

Happy Birthday to Connie....

Many happy returns, Connie!!

Tom, Connie said thank you....

[Rick Farris]

Happy Birthday to Connie....

Happy Birthday Connie!

[Rick Farris]

Yep, its hard to picture Rick suffering the foolishness of some of these starlets.
Im sure he doesnt put up with too much flack.

Brian, people are surprised when I tell them that one of the worst ever is Sally Field.
I've done five major films with her. She was great on Smokey & The Bandit (my first major feature), but after Burt Reynolds dumped her she turned into a real bitch! We were in the South shooting "Norman Rae" and she was impossible (but won an Oscar). A few years later, we were in Florida shooting "Absence of Malice", and again, a real pain (and again, another Oscar, I think?). However, Paul Newman taught her a lesson. It was great! I'll share it on another occasion. Last year I was working at Disney Studios, where they film "Brothers & Sisters"on a stage next to the one I was working on. I'd see her riding her bike outside the stage. She's 63 today, and is showing her age. They say she has mellowed? I guess she finally got over Burt.

A number of years ago, I was on a late Delta flight from Atlanta to Orlando right at the start of Spring training. I bet there were only ten people on the plane, and one of them was Ted Williams who was sitting up in first class. He freely signed autographs for everybody on the plane who wanted one.

Anyway, I struck up a conversation with a flight attendant, who told me that he used to regularly work the LA-NYC run in first class. He told me that he got to serve a lot of the stars on those fights. When I asked him who was the nicest, he said, hands down, Elizabeth Taylor. When I asked him who was the worst, he, too, said the answer would surprise me, and he named Lucille Ball and Andy Griffith. Its interesting the differences we hear between a star's public persona and real life. One would think that Lucy and Sally would be lovely ladies and Elizabeth Taylor a bitch . . . but not true.

Tom . . . I worked with Andy Griffith briefly in 1990. At the time, he was playing "Matlock", which at the time was filmed at Universal. I was asked to replace the lighting director for one episode because his wife was having surgery. Andy Griffith is a very cold man, rude. I was quite surprised when the camaraman warned me that the guy was not the warm "Andy Taylor" we grew up with on TV. Never a smile, never a thank you to those close with him. The fight attendant was telling you the truth. Lucille Ball was very cold, as well, a shrewd business woman whom I never worked with, but my uncle had. People liked Desi Arnaz, who was another shrewd film maker, but whom had a personality off camera. Lots of history and TV inovation came out of the "I Love Lucy" series.

[THEHAMMER321]

A man I met in a bar told me an unfortunate sequence of events that happened to his three wives,so I asked him what happened to his first wife ''she died from mushroom poisoning'' then I asked him what happened to his second wife ''she died from mushroom poisoning'' we'll then what happened to your third wife ''she died from a concussion cause she wouldn't eat her mushrooms''

[Expug]

Rick, speaking of Andy Griffith, Ive met and talked a few times to Ron Howard in recent weeks.
He was at The Chicago Bulls Game tonight and at a Blackhawks game a few weeks ago. He was with a film crew filming at The United Center where the teams play. He is filming crowd shots to be used at a later date for a movie hes doing.I walked around with him for a bit.
Maybe you will do the lighting on the movie?
Rons a nice guy. Very down to earth and friendly.

[Rick Farris]

Elizabeth Taylor . . .

Tom, I never worked with Elizabeth Taylor, however, my Grandfather's very last film before retiring from the business was "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf", which starred Taylor and her husband, Richard Burton.

The film won a number Oscars including one for "Best Cinematography", the first for Haskell Wexler, who would win a couple more before retiring a few years back. Wexler credited my Grandfather's excellence at lighting black & white films in helping him win the award.

I was 13 when my grandfather did this film, and I recall him telling my grandmother what he was experiencing each day when he returned home from work. He told her that both Taylor and Burton were drunk for every scene they filmed. They didn't just "act" as if they were drunk, they were really drunk, from first thing in the morning to the moment they called a wrap at the end of the day. I watched the film a few years back, and on the DVD Wexler there was a part where they interviewed the director, Mike Nichols, and Wexler. Wexler said he really cut his teeth as a cinematographer on that film, and how the lighting influenced the look.

I do recall something my grandad said about Liz Taylor, and that was she had dark hair on her face. Today most actresses have facial hair waxed off before stepping in front of the camera, but things in those days were different, and my grandfather had to be careful to minimize or completely hide this in shadow. I also recall him telling us that Connie Stevens was a sweetheart but had very small eyes. A few years later, I'd see Stevens at the Olympic, attending the Mando Ramos-Raul Rojas fight. Ten years after that, I'd light Connie Stevens for the first time. Stevens had been a "contract player" at Warner's during my grandfather's last years at the studio, as was Robert Conrad, Troy Donahue, etc. She starred in a series at Warners during the late 50's-early 60's, "Hawiian Eye". From this she knew my grandad, and we got along just great. Connie Stevens is one of the nicest people in town.

Ironically, both Stevens and Liz Taylor were both married to Eddie Fisher, as was Debbie Reynolds. All of these people were close to my grandfather as he was Warner's top lighting artist for many years. It was a different business back then, the great film artists were like kings on the set. Today, things just aren't the same.

[Rick Farris]

Rick, speaking of Andy Griffith, Ive met and talked a few times to Ron Howard in recent weeks.
He was at The Chicago Bulls Game tonight and at a Blackhawks game a few weeks ago. He was with a film crew filming at The United Center where the teams play. He is filming crowd shots to be used at a later date for a movie hes doing.I walked around with him for a bit.
Maybe you will do the lighting on the movie?
Rons a nice guy. Very down to earth and friendly.

Ron Howard . . .

Brian, Ron Howard, as a child, grew up literally around the corner from me in Burbank. I believe he is a year younger than me. He didn't grow up in a big house, just a very small 2br. home in an average middle class neighborhood. We'd see him around town, always with his younger brother Clint and parents. He is a brilliant film maker and a class act. I really don't know him and only worked on one film he's directed, Apollo 13. His rep is strong in town and "Imagine Films", is the company he runs with Brian Grazer. Ron's father, Rance Howard, is a great man. Rance had a regular role in his younger son Clint's TV series, "Gentle Ben" in the 60's and often will have a small role in films that Ron does today. I worked with Rance on a "Seinfeld a few years back, and we had time to have a nice long conversation. We reminised about Burbank when his boy's were growing up, the neighborhood, etc. I went to Burbank High School, Ron went to John Burroughs H.S. a few miles away. Despite having a big bank account from his years as a child TV star, he was taught to live conservativly. I remember when he was attending USC film school, he could have been driving a Ferrari. He drove a simple VW. He married his high school girlfriend and they are still married, their daughter Bryce is now an actress. A lot can be said for good parenting, and Ron Howard is a perfect example.

[Expug]

Thanks Rick.
When I met Ron, he was wearing a baseball hat, jeans, sneakers, couple days of beard. Just a regular guy doing his thing.
I was impressed with the way he carried himself. As you mentioned, hes a good dude.
Its funny, Ive met alot of celebs, athletes,etc through work, but when I met Howard, I really felt as though I was meeting a guy who was a legendary show biz person. Ive grown up watching him from his days as Opie to Ritchie Cunningham and beyond.

[Rick Farris]

Pages???

Hey guys, didn't we have over a thousand pages on this thread? Now it's listed as 500+ ???
I hope we aren't "losing pages" suddenly? It would be a tragedy to lose this info, we've put in more than two years here.

[Chuck1052]

From 1965 to 1970, I lived in the same neighborhood as a future movie star named Kevin Costner, who is about two years younger than me. Kevin was a regular, short kid with some athletic ability and plenty of energy. Kevin, my brothers and I went to the same schools and were in the same Boy Scout Troop. Of my family, my brother Bob was the one who played alot with him.

Kevin's older brother, Danny, was three grades ahead of me, and went on to serve as a Marine in the Vietnam War. According to what I read, Danny (he is known as Dan now) has been a business advisor to Kevin.

After completing his sophomore year in high school and moving about 1970, Kevin had a spurt of growth and must be over six feet in height. I haven't talked to him since the early 1970s, but I did see him when he put on a show with his band in Ventura about two years ago.

- Chuck Johnston

[kikibalt]

Pages???

Hey guys, didn't we have over a thousand pages on this thread? Now it's listed as 500+ ???
I hope we aren't "losing pages" suddenly? It would be a tragedy to lose this info, we've put in more than two years here.

WTF!!

[THEHAMMER321]

Pages???

Hey guys, didn't we have over a thousand pages on this thread? Now it's listed as 500+ ???
I hope we aren't "losing pages" suddenly? It would be a tragedy to lose this info, we've put in more than two years here.

WTF!!

I hope there is some way we can get those pages back

[raylawpc]

Hi Rick:

I found some digital pictures of the original Jeffries home built by Jim's father, Alexis:



(the old man with the beard is Alexis)

and from the street:



When Jeffries was a boy, the family moved from Ohio and his father Alex paid $90,000 - a huge sum in those days - for this large tract of land near where Dodger Stadium is situated today. If I recall, Alex turned the whole farm into an orchard and grew lemons, limes and oranges.

You have heard of Mulholland Drive, obviously. William Mulholland was the chief engineer and head of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He was responsible for building the city's early water aqueducts. One of those aqueducts was constructed either on or near the Jeffries tract. When Jeffries was a boy, he and one of his brothers were caught playing in the aqueduct by Mulholland, who had earlier told the boys to stay out of the area. Mulholland chewed out both the boys, warmed their bottoms with a good old fashioned spanking, and sent them home. Can you imagine something like that happening today?

[THEHAMMER321]

Rick, speaking of Andy Griffith, Ive met and talked a few times to Ron Howard in recent weeks.
He was at The Chicago Bulls Game tonight and at a Blackhawks game a few weeks ago. He was with a film crew filming at The United Center where the teams play. He is filming crowd shots to be used at a later date for a movie hes doing.I walked around with him for a bit.
Maybe you will do the lighting on the movie?
Rons a nice guy. Very down to earth and friendly.

Ron Howard . . .

Brian, Ron Howard, as a child, grew up literally around the corner from me in Burbank. I believe he is a year younger than me. He didn't grow up in a big house, just a very small 2br. home in an average middle class neighborhood. We'd see him around town, always with his younger brother Clint and parents. He is a brilliant film maker and a class act. I really don't know him and only worked on one film he's directed, Apollo 13. His rep is strong in town and "Imagine Films", is the company he runs with Brian Grazer. Ron's father, Rance Howard, is a great man. Rance had a regular role in his younger son Clint's TV series, "Gentle Ben" in the 60's and often will have a small role in films that Ron does today. I worked with Rance on a "Seinfeld a few years back, and we had time to have a nice long conversation. We reminised about Burbank when his boy's were growing up, the neighborhood, etc. I went to Burbank High School, Ron went to John Burroughs H.S. a few miles away. Despite having a big bank account from his years as a child TV star, he was taught to live conservativly. I remember when he was attending USC film school, he could have been driving a Ferrari. He drove a simple VW. He married his high school girlfriend and they are still married, their daughter Bryce is now an actress. A lot can be said for good parenting, and Ron Howard is a perfect example.

I just saw an episode of the show''Biography'' with Ron Howard as the subject, it talked about like you said how his parents didn't spoil him just because he was a T.V star,he is one of the rare examples of a child star who went in the right direction.

[Expug]

Guys, I think its possible that pages have been condensed a bit.
A page used to hold 25 or so posts and now it looks like thirty plus. That would be good as none would be lost.
That would explain the less amount of pages on the thread.
I could be wrong though.

[Chuck1052]

Happy Birthday, Connie!

- Chuck Johnston

[Chuck1052]

Tom- It may be that Jim Jeffries was fooling around where a water canal was located in the Los Angeles area as a child, but the first major aqueduct of Los Angeles, which was built from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles, wasn't constructed until Jeffries was well into adulthood.

William Muholland is one controversial figure in Los Angeles history, but his accomplishments in terms of building the Los Angeles water system were astounding. As someone who has lived in Ventura County, California most of my life, I am aware of the low point of his tenure, the St. Francis Dam Disaster in 1928. After the dam gave way during the night, a massive amount of water swept down the Santa Clara Valley to the Pacific Ocean, killing hundreds of people and causing a massive amount of destruction in its path.

- Chuck Johnston

[raylawpc]

Tom- It may be that Jim Jeffries was fooling around where a water canal was located in the Los Angeles area as a child, but the first major aqueduct of Los Angeles, which was built from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles, wasn't constructed until Jeffries was well into adulthood.

William Muholland is one controversial figure in Los Angeles history, but his accomplishments in terms of building the Los Angeles water system were astounding. As someone who has lived in Ventura County, California most of my life, I am aware of the low point of his tenure, the St. Francis Dam Disaster in 1928. After the dam gave way during the night, a massive amount of water swept down the Santa Clara Valley to the Pacific Ocean, killing hundreds of people and causing a massive amount of destruction in its path.

- Chuck Johnston

In fact, in the article, he called it a canal. Not having either canals or aqeuducts in Missouri or Oklahoma, and not being a civil engineer, I foolishly assumed they were the same thing. But whether an aqueduct or canal, I think the story is amusing.

I have read about that dam failure. I know that, to his credit, and even though an inquest exonerated him from all blame, Mulholland took full responsibility for the disaster and resigned his position as head of the water department. I recall he was quoted saying at the time that "the only people I envy in this thing are the dead."

I recall that Mulholland was also infamous for the so-called water wars in Southern California, about which they based a movie - Chinatown - starriing Jack Nichoilson and Rick's favorite actress Faye Dunaway.

[kikibalt]

Owens Valley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owens_Valley

[Rick Farris]

Hi Rick:

I found some digital pictures of the original Jeffries home built by Jim's father, Alexis:



(the old man with the beard is Alexis)

and from the street:



When Jeffries was a boy, the family moved from Ohio and his father Alex paid $90,000 - a huge sum in those days - for this large tract of land near where Dodger Stadium is situated today. If I recall, Alex turned the whole farm into an orchard and grew lemons, limes and oranges.

You have heard of Mulholland Drive, obviously. William Mulholland was the chief engineer and head of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He was responsible for building the city's early water aqueducts. One of those aqueducts was constructed either on or near the Jeffries tract. When Jeffries was a boy, he and one of his brothers were caught playing in the aqueduct by Mulholland, who had earlier told the boys to stay out of the area. Mulholland chewed out both the boys, warmed their bottoms with a good old fashioned spanking, and sent them home. Can you imagine something like that happening today?

Tom . . . Thanks for the great photos and history. I know a bit about William Mulholland, and also things regarding L.A.'s water aqueducts. The topic of the movie "Chinatown" related in part to L.A.'s water aqueducts, etc. That story about Mulholland spanking the youthful future heavyweight champ is a classic. Yeah, imagine that happening today? Not even parents have a legal right to spank a child today. How the world has changed, of course, today kids are all well behaved and don't create problems for society as they did when they were punished ( ).

[Rick Farris]

From 1965 to 1970, I lived in the same neighborhood as a future movie star named Kevin Costner, who is about two years younger than me. Kevin was a regular, short kid with some athletic ability and plenty of energy. Kevin, my brothers and I went to the same schools and were in the same Boy Scout Troop. Of my family, my brother Bob was the one who played alot with him.

Kevin's older brother, Danny, was three grades ahead of me, and went on to serve as a Marine in the Vietnam War. According to what I read, Danny (he is known as Dan now) has been a business advisor to Kevin.

After completing his sophomore year in high school and moving about 1970, Kevin had a spurt of growth and must be over six feet in height. I haven't talked to him since the early 1970s, but I did see him when he put on a show with his band in Ventura about two years ago.

- Chuck Johnston

Chuck - In the early 80's, when Kevin Costner was a struggling actor nobody heard of, he worked as a stage manager at a small studio across the street from Paramount Studios on Melrose Ave. At the time, it was known as Producers Studio and was used primarily for commercials. It would become Raleigh Studios, and a guy we only knew as "Kevin" would deliver the lighting equipment we'd order to the stage from the lamp dock. He wore a shop coat, and when not delivering or taking equipment orders, he could usually be found behind the counter reading a book on "acting". Some of the guys would tease him about his desire to become an actor. Well, today Kevin's production company has it's offices at Raleigh Studios and I imagine those who laughed at his goals are no longer laughing. Kevin Costner believed in himself, and followed his dreams to the top of the world in the film industry. It's kind of cool, I think. That was an interesting story about your family's connection with him.

[Rick Farris]

Jeffries . . .

I'm enjoying the info Tom has put up regarding Jim Jeffries, and especially how it points out that Jeff grew up in L.A.
I was aware of his history living in Burbank after he was champ, but never heard anybody focus on the fact he was basicly a product of Southern Cal (despite his being born elsewhere).
He is one who rightfully should have been a CBHOF inductee early on.
Thanks to you and Frank Baltazar for making this a reality.
I was aware that Jim Jeffries was not only a great boxing champ, but one helluva all-round athlete, that could run a 100 yards in 10 sec. flat.

[Rick Farris]

Guys, I think its possible that pages have been condensed a bit.
A page used to hold 25 or so posts and now it looks like thirty plus. That would be good as none would be lost.
That would explain the less amount of pages on the thread.
I could be wrong though.

Brian . . . That makes sense. I hope that is the case. The page count is meaningless, the number of posts is the true bench mark of this thread's success (and of course the quality of the content).

[Chuck1052]

Rick, I admire what Kevin Costner has accomplished in his life. He worked very hard and made some very shrewd choices.

Do I envy him? While I may like to have a few more things in life, the price to acquire them seems to be far too high. I could not imagine being in the spotlight that many celebrities and their families have to endure. They can't possibly live a normal life as we know it. While not feeling too sorry for someone like Kevin, I would be very reluctant to change places with him.

- Chuck Johnston

[kikibalt]

E-Mail and photos courtesy of Tom Ray



I have been trying since I got your e-mail message to send you these fishing pictures. I'm going to try again - this time a few at a time. If you look don't like them or if there are too many, don't download them all. You won't hurt my feelings. At this point, I'm just on a damn mission!!

I took these at Roaring River State Park near Cassville, Missouri. The state park is also a hatchery, and they release about 500 rainbow trout into the river every day. The river and hatchery are fed by an underground stream that emerges from a cave. The cave is reportedly about 250 feet deep. It really a very beautiful place. This month, Linda and I brought a home about 15 miles away as a retirement/vacation home. My mother grew up in Cassville, and my Dad about 10 miles away in Purdy, Missouri. My dad learned how to fly fish in those streams and I have lots of memories being there with my parents, grandparents, family reunions, etc.



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