January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962
Modern television owes just about everything to the unbridled genius of Ernie Kovacs. His spontaneous, unexpected and often eccentric comedy style is either directly or indirectly responsible for shows like Saturday Night Live, The Muppet Show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In and Captain Kangaroo. He also influenced nearly all of the major talk show hosts of the last 30 years from Conan O’Brien to David Letterman. Kovacs was a true original. Continue reading
July 23, 1933 – July 15, 1991
Bert Convy was an actor and singer who appeared in numerous stage productions and television shows over the course of his career. He was also a featured panelist on many popular game shows and eventually became a game show host in his own right. His work on shows such as Super Password and Win, Lose or Draw made him a household name. He also played some minor league baseball in his youth. So, he had a pretty well-rounded skill set. In 1990, Convy collapsed in an L.A. hospital (lucky) and was diagnosed with a brain tumor (not as lucky). In July of 1991, the tumor took its toll and Bert Convy was dead at the age of 57. The password is: Bummer. Continue reading
April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996
Ian Fleming wrote some books.
Some years later, an American producer named Cubby Broccoli made a lot of money because of them.
Broccoli became interested in Fleming’s James Bond stories and felt the need to adapt them to the screen. It was a good decision as the Bond franchise has made roughly $7,000,000,000,000,000* in the more than half a century since 1962’s modest Dr. No was released. Continue reading
July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010
Ronald James Padavona, AKA Ronnie James Dio, was one of the most influential – and certainly most powerful – voices in Heavy Metal music history. He grew up around music and said he learned how to sing, not by formal education, but rather by implementing breathing techniques taken from playing brass instruments and watching singers like Mario Lanza perform. Dio eventually found his calling in a number of local bands and first started to gain notoriety in the groups Elf and Rainbow. But, it was when he was asked to replace Ozzy Osbourne in the ultra-popular Black Sabbath, that his career really took off. Continue reading
December 5, 1921 – May 4, 1997
Jack Alvin Moore was a comedic actor who appeared in many television shows – from The Dick Van Dyke Show to The Mickey Mouse Club – over the course of his 40+ year career. He is probably best known for playing county agent Hank Kimball on the perennial rural-centric CBS sitcom, Green Acres. Alvy Moore died of heart failure at the age of 75. Continue reading
July 08, 1934 – December 02, 1982
Just about everyone knows Marty Feldman and his distinctive (and ridiculous) eyes from his performance as Igor in Mel Brooks’ classic comedy Young Frankenstein. But, Feldman got his start in more famous circles even than that. As a young comedian in the U.K., Feldman appeared on television and wrote with many future comedy legends, including John Cleese and Graham Chapman – who would go on to co-found the iconic Monty Python comedy group. In fact some of Python’s more memorable sketches (“Four Yorkshiremen,” “Bookshop”) were co-written by Marty. Continue reading
October 24, 1915 – November 3, 1998
He created Batman. What have you done? Continue reading
June 22, 1954 – January 29, 1977
Frederick Karl Pruetzel was a Hungarican (Hungarian/Puerto Rican – his word, not mine) actor and comedian who exploded onto the comedy circuit in the 1970’s. He wanted to be known as the Prince of Comedy, so he changed his name to Freddie Prinze and made people laugh. His short career was catapulted after an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and soon he was given his own sitcom: Chico and the Man. Continue reading
September 26, 1895 – November 24, 1980
Some people are typecast from birth. For George Raft (Ranft), he was born to play a gangster. The rugged character actor was also an adept dancer and was a solid box office draw during his early career. But, when you are even friends with legit gangsters in real life, sometimes the image is hard to shake. Still, he turned it to his advantage, appearing opposite other perennial screen gangsters like Jimmy Cagney, he was poised to break through to be one of the biggest leading men of his generation. Continue reading
November 14, 1927 – February 15, 1996
Edgar McLean Stevenson trodded the boards for years in Summer Stock theatre and fledgling TV programs. He eventually established himself as a comedy writer and occasional performer before landing a guest spot on Marlo Thomas’ That Girl. This led to a starring role in The Doris Day Show, which led to the role for which he will always be remembered: Col. Henry Blake on the seminal sitcom M*A*S*H. For three seasons, Stevenson earned laughs as Col. Blake but began to resent the character’s role as a “lowly” ensemble member. He wanted to be the star, so he walked away. Continue reading
Celebrity Graveland 