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One of the most recognizable characters in the Our Gang comedies was William (Buckwheat) Thomas who was a troupe member from 1934 until the series concluded in 1944. Thomas recalled his mother taking him to a tryout at age three--where he was quickly added as a minor character. He was being groomed to replace Stymie as the Gang's black character. Like Farina before him, Buckwheat's gender was a bit of a mystery at first, but he eventually grew into a male role. His trademark 'Otay!' was part of his garbled-English shtick. His wardrobe usually consisted of a striped shirt, a floppy hat, and pants held up by just one suspender. Thomas made an easy transition out of showbiz. He worked as a film laboratory technician for years and also served in the Korean War. (His gravestone wrongly lists him as a WWII veteran.) In August 1980 he was moved to tears after he was given a standing ovation by fans at an Our Gang reunion. Two months later Thomas died suddenly of a heart attack at age 49. Remarkably, Buckwheat got plenty of posthumous fame. Comedian Eddie Murphy had an ongoing Buckwheat-impersonation routine on Saturday Night Live. In 1990, the ABC news program 20/20 aired a segment about a man working in a Tempe, Arizona grocery store who claimed to be Buckwheat. The network was flooded with calls from knowledgeable Our Gang fans who pointed out that the real Buckwheat had died a decade earlier. An angry Spanky McFarland appeared on television to denounce the fraudster, a man named Billie English who had been masquerading as Buckwheat for 30 years. The producer of the 20/20 segment was summarily fired for his shoddy research. Buckwheat's son sued ABC for negligence.
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Our
Gang
Buckwheat
Thomas
Added: 2nd December 2009
Views: 2048
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
 
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A chapter in American history concluded on February 27, 2011 when Frank Woodruff Buckles passed away in Virginia. The 110-year-old Buckles was the last accepted American First World War veteran. He enlisted at the age of 16 in 1917 and served until 1920. During the Great War, Buckles was stationed in England and France where he drove ambulances. In 1941, when the United States entered the Second World War, Buckles was a civilian employee of a shipping company in the Philippines. When the Japanese seized control of the islands, he was held prisoner for three years.
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First
World
War
veteran
dies
Added: 7th March 2011
Views: 455
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
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Claude Stanley Choules, the last accepted combat veteran from the Frst World War, died in Australia on May 5, 2011 at the age of 110 years and 63 days. Choules was also the last military witness to the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow. He was also the last veteran to have served in both world wars, and the last seaman from the First World War. At the time of his death, he was also the third oldest verified military veteran in the world and the oldest known living man in Australia. He was the seventh-oldest living man in the world.
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Claude
Choules
WWI
veteran
Added: 20th May 2011
Views: 431
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
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JAMES ARNESS was born in Minneapolis, MN on May 26, 1923 passed away on June 3, 2011 at the age of 88 from natural causes.
He served his country in the army during WWII at Anzio He was wounded in his right leg and received the Purple Heart. He is best known for his role of Marshal Matt Dillon in the TV series Gunsmoke. Gunsmoke ran from 1955-1975 and is still on the air today being discovered by many old and new fans alike.
Over the 20 years of Gunsmoke he worked with 100’s of actors, some of them just starting out like Harrison Ford, Burt Reynolds, Charles Bronson, and Betty Davis.
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Gunsmoke
James
Arness
CBS
1950's
50's
Classic
TV
Television
Added: 3rd June 2011
Views: 512
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Posted By: Old Fart |
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Barbara Feldon and Don Adams of Get Smart grace this TV Guide cover from 1967. Get Smart was an extremely popular spy spoof that ran on NBC from 1965 to 1970 that pitted the counter-espionage activities of CONTROL versus the nefarious deeds of KAOS. The show introduced the phrase "would you believe..." into popular culture. The youthful looking Adams was ten years Feldon's senior. Adams won three consecutive Emmys playing Maxwell Smart (CONTROL agent 86). Feldon was nominated for two Emmys for her role as CONTROL agent 99. Adams was a WWII veteran who was the only survivor from a platoon that saw action on Guadalcanal. Feldon first gained fame by winning the jackpot on The $64,000 Question. Her subject was Shakespeare.
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Get
Smart
Don
Adams
Barbara
Feldon
Added: 22nd November 2011
Views: 576
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
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Frank Buckles was the last surviving American verteran of the First World War. This photo show him with President George W. Bush in 2007. He had volunteered at age 16 and drove ambulances and motorcycles in France. He died just after his 110th birthday in 2011. Because Buckles was not a combat soldier, he did not qualify for burial at Arlington National Cemetery. It took a special act of Congress for Buckles to be interred there. Buckles died a few months before Claude Choules, a British sailor living in Australia. Choules was the last accepted WWI combatant from any country.
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Frank
Buckles
First
World
War
doughboy
Added: 22nd November 2011
Views: 373
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
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Florence Patterson Green never saw the front line. Her war was spent serving food, not dodging bullets.
But Green, who died on February 4, 2012, aged 110, was the last known surviving veteran of World War I. She was serving with the Women's Royal Air Force as a waitress at an air base in eastern England when the guns fell silent on November 11, 1918.
It was not until 2010 that she was officially recognized as a veteran after a researcher found her service record in Britain's National Archives.
Green died Saturday at the Briar House Care Home in King's Lynn, eastern England, two weeks before her 111th birthday, the home said.
Retired Air Vice-Marshal Peter Dye, director-general of the RAF Museum, said it was fitting that the last survivor of the first global war was someone who had served on the home front.
"In a way, that the last veteran should be a lady and someone who served on the home front is something that reminds me that warfare is not confined to the trenches," Dye said.
"It reminds us of the Great War, and all warfare since then has been something that involved everyone. It's a collective experience ... Sadly, whether you are in New York, in London, or in Kandahar, warfare touches all of our lives."
She was born Florence Beatrice Patterson in London on February 19, 1901, and joined the newly formed Women's Royal Air Force in September 1918 at the age of 17.
The service trained women to work as mechanics, drivers and in other jobs to free men for front-line duty. Green went to work as a steward in the officers' mess, first at the Narborough airdrome and then at RAF Marham in eastern England, and was serving there when the war ended. The photo below was taken in February 2010 at a celebration of Florence's 109th birthday.
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Florence
Patterson
Green
WWI
veteran
Added: 8th February 2012
Views: 425
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
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