Dark Shadows: TV’s pioneer vampires
Posted on November 30, 2016 by bob in Tinseltown Talks
Were you one of those kids who dashed home from school in the late 60s to catch the latest developments in the fantasy/horror TV serial “Dark Shadows”? When the show first aired on daytime television on June 27, 1966, Kathryn Leigh Scott was among the original cast of the landmark soap opera. Five years and […]
One of Britain’s Finest
Posted on October 31, 2016 by bob in Tinseltown Talks
American audiences were introduced to British actress Stephanie Cole when she portrayed grumpy, sharp-witted Diana Trent, a resident of the Bayview Retirement Village in the 1990s sitcom “Waiting for God.” A decade later, Cole was back on U.S. Public TV playing a more congenial matriarchal character in another popular British comedy import, “Doc Martin.” Turning […]
Robin “Boy Wonder” turns Canine Crusader
Posted on October 2, 2016 by bob in Tinseltown Talks
There was a time when Burt Ward would leap dramatically across our TV screens in green shorts, beige tights, and a gold cape masquerading weekly as ‘Robin, the Boy Wonder,’ one-half of the crime fighting Dynamic Duo in the popular television show “Batman,” which first aired 50 years ago this year. Today, you’ll find Burt […]
The original “Mission Impossible”
Posted on September 1, 2016 by bob in Tinseltown Talks
Two decades ago, Barbara Bain embarked on a mission many might have considered impossible: to convince children that books and reading could be fun. “I volunteered in a daycare and just started reading to the kids one day as we sat on the lawn,” said Bain, who starred in the TV series “Mission: Impossible” and […]
The Captain & (Montgomery’s Toni) Tennille
Posted on July 31, 2016 by bob in Tinseltown Talks
She put the “Tennille” in the popular 70s music duo of “The Captain and Tennille” and enjoyed two huge number one Billboard hits – “Love Will Keep Us Together” and “Do That to Me One More Time.” But Toni Tennille also brushed shoulders with Hollywood’s biggest stars. Born and raised in Montgomery, Toni recently left […]
Actor, Author, Lion Tamer?
Posted on July 1, 2016 by bob in Tinseltown Talks
“The studio brought in a young lion and he was like a pussy cat. I crawled into bed with him, we wrestled, and I did every scene with him. I had padding under my uniform and around my arms, but occasionally he would nip my rump.” What were the chances that a 6’ 3” spaghetti-thin, […]
Betty Lynn: Barney’s Mayberry Sweetheart
Posted on June 1, 2016 by bob in Features, Tinseltown Talks
“I’d been coming here for the Mayberry Days festival for ages, so it seemed like the perfect place to settle,” she said. “Everyone has been so kind since I moved here. It didn’t take long for me to feel like a local rather than a visitor.” Betty Lynn It’s just after noon on the third Friday of the […]
Pharmacist-turned-Actor
Posted on May 2, 2016 by bob in Tinseltown Talks
Recognized for hundreds of television roles dating back to the 1950s, Peter Mark Richman broke into film alongside Gary Cooper in the 1956 civil war western, “Friendly Persuasion.” “But I’m not only an actor, I’m also a playwright,” noted Richman, who turned 89 in April, from his home in Los Angeles. “’A Medal for Murray’ […]
Dick Cavett Returns to TV
Posted on March 29, 2016 by bob in Tinseltown Talks
The battle for late-night talk show dominance is nothing new to TV audiences. In the 60s and 70s, three prominent hosts sometimes went head-to-head for the coveted ratings bragging rights. “There was a time when Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, and myself were all opposite each other,” noted Dick Cavett from his home in New York. […]
Surviving a “Titanic” sinking and a “Monster”
Posted on March 1, 2016 by bob in Tinseltown Talks
Four decades before James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster “Titanic” made waves at the Academy Awards with 11 wins, Audrey Dalton signed on for Hollywood’s 1953 recreation of the famous 1912 maritime disaster. “Our version only received one Oscar for writing,” said Ms. Dalton, who turned 82 in January, from her home in Saddleback Valley, Calif. “But […]
