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Heath Ledger was found dead today, Jan 22, 2008, at a downtown Manhattan residence in a possible drug-related death, police said. He was 28. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the Manhattan apartment believed to be his home. The housekeeper who went to let Ledger know the masseuse was there found him dead at 3:26 p.m.
The Australian-born actor was an Oscar nominee for his role in "Brokeback Mountain" and has numerous other screen credits. Very, very sad.
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heath
ledger
australian
actors
rip
Added: 22nd January 2008
Views: 1578
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Posted By: Naomi |
 
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One of the most tragic figures in movie history was Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle. A onetime cabaret singer, Arbuckle was among the most popular actors in silent comedies from 1914 to 1921. Starting as an extra at Keystone Studios, the surprisingly nimble Arbuckle quickly graduated to starring roles in the studio's slapstick comedy films where he was noted for his terrific accuracy in throwing pies and other missiles. Later, like Charlie Chaplin, Arbuckle matured as a performer, adding brilliantly subtle aspects to his comedy routines. A box-office favorite, he was making a seven-figure salary at Paramount Pictures in 1921. Midway through that year Arbuckle was so popular that he was put to work on three feature comedy films simultaneously! Shortly after completing them, Arbuckle's career abruptly ended in scandal. He was accused of sexually assaulting small-time actress Virginia Rappe at a party he was hosting in a suite at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco on Labor Day 1921. Rappe died four days later in a maternity hosptal of peritonitis from a ruptured bladder, presumably caused by the 266-pound Arbuckle forcing himself on her. (There was also an apocryphal story of Rappe being raped with a champagne or cola bottle. How this slanderous story started is anyone's guess.) Rappe had become violently ill and irrational at the party. Arbuckle and several partygoers tried to succor Rappe and eventually moved her to another hotel room where she was examined by three different doctors over the next three days. A postmortem on Rappe's body found no signs of sexual assault whatsoever. In all likelihood Rappe death's was due to medical negligence or malpractice. Moreover, Rappe was hardly the virginal victim that the popular press and D.A.'s office portrayed her to be. The mistress of director Henry Lehrman, Rappe had had at least four abortions by the time she was 16, she had an out-of-wedlock child that she had abandoned, and she was afflicted with gonorrhea. In the summer of 1921 the 26-year-old Rappe, who hadn't had an acting job in two years, recently underwent another illegal abortion. Rappe was also suffering from a chronic illness that was exacerbated by her taste for poor-quality Prohibition booze. The accusations against Arbuckle were based solely on a malicious complaint fabricated by party attendee Maude Delmont, a known extortionist who claimed to be a "lifelong friend" of Rappe's--but had only known Rappe for two days prior to the Labor Day party. Arbuckle was astounded when a horde of reporters descended upon his Hollywood mansion to tell him he was being investigated for rape and possible murder charges in Rappe's death. Beginning in late September, Arbuckle was tried three times for rape and manslaughter in the space of seven months. He spent $700,000 on legal fees to beat the bogus charges. The prosecution's case was absurdly weak and should have been dropped. In fact, complainant Delmont was never called as a witness because her wild story of Arbuckle assaulting Rappe for an hour did not jibe with the physical evidence nor the timeline of events at the party. Nevertheless, the San Francisco D.A.'s office doggedly pursued the charges against Arbuckle because of intense pressure by reformers and moralists. The first two trials resulted in hung juries. At the first trial, Arbuckle fared terrifically when he eagerly took the stand to defend himself. It ended with the jury voting 10-2 in favor of acquittal. One stubborn holdout was a militant feminist so determined to convict Arbuckle that she refused to read any portions of the trial's transcript or listen to other jurors' opinions--to the point of childishly putting her hands over her ears! The second trial, in which Arbuckle's legal team badly advised him not to bother to take the stand because his innocence was obvious, was surprisingly 9-3 in favor of conviction! At the third trial, in April 1922, Arbuckle wisely took the stand. The jury deliberated for a mere six minutes before returning with a not guilty verdict that was loudly cheered by the gallery. Furthermore, the jury also insisted a formal apology to Arbuckle be read into the trials' official transcript. Film historians generally believe Arbuckle was totally innocent of any wrongdoing and was the victim of malicious prosecution. Nevertheless, his acting career abruptly ended because newly appointed Hollywood censorship czar Will Hays banned distributors from showing any Arbuckle comedies despite being acquitted! Although filmdom was deprived of a master comic's work, Arbuckle stayed in movies by directing films under an assumed name. He was just beginning to make an acting comeback--with six two-reel comedie--when died of heart failure in 1933 at age 46. According to Arbuckle biographer David A. Yallop, in an era when Hollywood stars routinely engaged in all sorts of debauchery, Roscoe, ironically, "was probably the most chaste man in Hollywood."
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Roscoe
Fatty
Arbuckle
scandal
1921
Added: 16th November 2007
Views: 3078
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
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Ladies, beware: Your husband won't adore you if you offend him with your undie odor! Wash your undies every day with new quick Lux soap if you want some loving!
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Lux
soap
ad
Added: 17th November 2007
Views: 2669
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
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technicolor Movie stars of the 30's, 40's, 50's . . . Judy Garland, Betty Grable, Maureen O'Hara, Lucille Ball, Carmen Miranda, Esther Williams, Ingrid Bergman, Vivian Leigh, Merle Oberon, Marlène Dietrich, Arlène Dahl, Maria Montez, Alice Faye. . . .
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Technicolor
movie
stars
30
Added: 25th November 2007
Views: 1711
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Posted By: Teresa |
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I just listed this site in Friends which is our section (left side) for links. The link is http://www.oldiesmusic.com/no1.htm I don't think there is anyone here who won't enjoy this!
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Number
One
Song
This
Week
In
History
Added: 29th November 2007
Views: 1715
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Posted By: Steve |
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Evel Knievel, the red-white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over crazy obstacles including Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho's Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s, died today. He was 69.
His death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs. In 1999 he had undergone a liver transplant after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his bone-shattering spills.
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evel
knievel
daredevil
motorcyclists
Added: 30th November 2007
Views: 2774
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Posted By: Naomi |
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The final leading lady of the Our Gang comedies was Janet Burston. She joined the troupe in 1940 as a five-year-old during the MGM era and stayed until the series meekly ran its course in 1944. After Darla Hood left in 1942, Burston became the Gang's female lead by default. She is pictured here in a scene circa 1942. Note that Spanky McFarland is still part of the Gang, as is Billie (Buckwheat) Thomas. That's young Robert Blake (who acted under the name of Mickey Gubitosi) on Burston's right. In the final movies of the series, Janet was the romantic interest of Froggy Laughlin (standing between Spanky and Buckwheat). Fans of the series often criticize Burston for her over-the-top acting. "Oh, I was a ham!" she said in an interview late in her life. "But that's the way they wanted it--the hammier, the better!" Burston didn't have much of a film career after her Our Gang days ended. Married four times, she died of cancer in 1998 at the age of 63.
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Our
Gang
Janet
Burston
Added: 3rd December 2009
Views: 4511
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
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From 1982 to 1993, This was one of the greatest character driven comedies in the history of television. All of the characters were just your basic every day working stiffs who just hung out at their favorite watering hole. The great cast made this show a classic that would be a major sitcom influence for years to come.
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cheers
through
the
years
Added: 9th December 2007
Views: 2233
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Posted By: Sophia |
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