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Onionhead
''Onionhead'' is a 1958 comedy-drama film set on a U.S. Coast Guard ship during World War II, starring Andy Griffith and featuring Felicia Farr, Walter Matthau, Erin O'Brien, James Gregory, Joey Bishop, and Claude Akins. It was directed by Norman Taurog and was written by Nelson Gidding and Weldon Hill from Hill's novel. ''Weldon Hill'' was the pseudonym of William R. Scott, a native Oklahoman who based the novel on his own World War II service in the Coast Guard. Griffith had experienced success with his previous service comedy, ''No Time for Sergeants'', and ''Onionhead'' was an attempt to cash in on that success. It was marketed as an uproarious comedy but is actually a comedy drama with some fairly dark themes. ''Onionhead'' was such a notorious flop that it drove Griffith into television, according to Griffith's videotaped interview in the Archive of American Television. Plot In the spring of 1941, Al Woods quits an Oklahoma college to join the armed forces after a qua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, as well as his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film '' A Face in the Crowd'' (1957) and ''No Time for Sergeants'' (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show'' (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama '' Matlock'' (1986–1995). Early life and education Griffith was born on June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Carl Lee Griffith and his wife, Geneva (née Nunn). As a baby, Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. With neither a c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erin Joanne O'Brien
Erin O'Brien (January 17, 1934May 20, 2021) was an American actress and singer, active during the mid-twentieth century and best known as the leading lady of arguably the first made-for-TV movie, '' Girl on the Run'', which also served as the pilot for the television series ''77 Sunset Strip'' written by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., which played briefly in theaters before airing on television on October 10, 1958. Early years The daughter of a milk delivery man, Vincent O'Brien, and his wife, Betty, she was the oldest of 14 siblings, with seven sisters and six brothers. She was born in Hollywood, grew up in Long Beach, California, and was a graduate of St. Anthony High School. At the age of 15, O'Brien had a notable encounter singing to Helen Keller, who was staying temporarily at a nunnery in Pasadena, California. One account of that encounter states, "The sister surrounding Keller's bed encouraged a frightened O'Brien to continue inging Finally Keller reac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claude Akins
Claude Aubrey Akins (May 25, 1926 – January 27, 1994) was an American character actor with a long career on stage, screen, and television. He was best known as Sheriff Lobo on the 1979–1981 television series ''B.J. and the Bear'', and later ''The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo'', a spin-off series. Early years Akins was born in Nelson, Georgia, and grew up in Bedford, Indiana, the son of Maude and Ernest Akins. Film reference works said he was born in 1918, making his age at death 75; however, Akins' son said his father was 67 at the time of his death, and he is listed as Aubrey Akins in the 1940 Census, age 13. He served with the U.S. Army Signal Corps in World War II in Burma and the Philippines. He graduated in 1949 from Northwestern University, where he had majored in theatre arts and became a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Film career As a film actor, Akins first appeared in ''From Here to Eternity'' (1953). He appeared as a seaman and shipmate of Le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Gregory (actor)
James Gregory (December 23, 1911 – September 16, 2002) was an American character actor known for his deep, gravelly voice and playing brash roles such as Schaffer in ''Al Capone'' (1959), the McCarthy-like Sen. John Iselin in ''The Manchurian Candidate'' (1962), the audacious General Ursus in ''Beneath the Planet of the Apes'' (1970), and crusty Inspector Frank Luger in the television sitcom ''Barney Miller'' (1975–1982). Career In 1939, he made his Broadway debut in a production of ''Key Largo'' and worked in about 25 more Broadway productions over the next 16 years. He served three years in the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps during World War II. His early acting work included army training films; one such appearance is excerpted in '' The Atomic Café'' (1982). He also worked in radio, including a year (1955–1956) on '' 21st Precinct''. Gregory was the lead in ''The Lawless Years'', a 1920s-era crime drama which aired 45 episodes on NBC. In t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nelson Gidding
Nelson Roosevelt Gidding (September 15, 1919 – May 2, 2004) was an American screenwriter specializing in adaptations. A longtime collaboration with director Robert Wise began with Gidding's screenplay for ''I Want to Live!'' (1958), which earned him an Oscar nomination. His long-running course on screenwriting adaptions at the University of Southern California inspired screenwriters of the present generation, including David S. Goyer. Gidding was born in New York and attended school at Phillips Exeter Academy; as a young man he was friends with Norman Mailer. After graduating from Harvard University, he entered the Army Air Forces in World War II as the navigator on a B-26. His plane was shot down over Italy, but he survived; he spent 18 months as a POW but effected an escape. Returning from the war, in 1946 he published his only novel, ''End Over End'', begun while captive in a German prison camp. In 1949, Gidding married Hildegarde Colligan; together they had a son, Jos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Buttolph
James David Buttolph Jr. (August 3, 1902 – January 1, 1983) was an American film composer who scored over 300 movies in his career. Born in New York City, Buttolph showed musical talent at an early age, and eventually studied music formally. After earning a music degree, Buttolph moved to Europe in 1923 and studied in Austria and Germany supporting himself as a nightclub pianist. He returned to the U.S. in 1927 and, a few years later, began working for NBC radio network as an arranger and conductor. In 1933, Buttolph moved to Los Angeles and began working in films. Buttolph's best work, according to many, was his work as an arranger on the Alfred Newman score for '' The Mark of Zorro'' (1940). In the mid-1950s, Buttolph started to compose scores for television, the most memorable being the theme for the TV western ''Maverick'' starring James Garner with the same music appearing in his score of ''The Lone Ranger'' (1956). He continued to compose music for television, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Rosson
Harold G. "Hal" Rosson, A.S.C. (April 6, 1895 – September 6, 1988) was an American cinematographer who worked during the early and classical Hollywood cinema, in a career spanning some 52 years, starting from the silent era in 1915. He is best known for his work on the fantasy film '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939) and the musical ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), as well as his marriage to Jean Harlow. Family Born in New York City, Rosson came from a film-making family. His older brother Arthur was a successful director as was his other older brother Richard and his younger sister Helene was an actress. Career Harold Rosson began his film career in 1908 as an actor at the Vitagraph Studios in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn. He became the assistant to Irvin Willat at the Mark Dintenfass Studios. In 1912 he divided his time as an office boy in a stockbrokers firm and as an assistant, extra, and handyman at the Famous Players Studio in New York. His first film for Famous Players wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the United States military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission with jurisdiction in both domestic and international waters and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its duties. It is the largest and most powerful coast guard in the world, rivaling the capabilities and size of most navies. The U.S. Coast Guard is a humanitarian and security service. It protects the United States' borders and economic and security interests abroad; and defends its sovereignty by safeguarding sea lines of communication and commerce across vast territorial waters spanning 95,000 miles of coastline and its Exclusive Economic Zone. With national and economic security depending upon open global trade a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joey Bishop
Joseph Abraham Gottlieb (February 3, 1918 – October 17, 2007), known professionally as Joey Bishop, was an American entertainer who appeared on television as early as 1948 and eventually starred in his own weekly comedy series playing a talk/variety show host, then later hosted a late-night talk show with Regis Philbin as his young sidekick on ABC. He also was a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford. He is listed as 96th entry on Comedy Central's list of 100 greatest comedians. Early life and education Bishop, the youngest of five children, was born in the Bronx, New York City, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants Anna (née Siegel) and Jacob Gottlieb. His father was a bicycle repairman. Bishop was raised in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Bishop was drafted into the US Army during World War II, and he rose to the rank of sergeant in the Special Services, serving at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. Career Bishop began ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Felicia Farr
Felicia Farr (born Olive Dines; October 4, 1932) is a American former actress and model Early years Farr was born in Westchester County, New York. She attended Erasmus Hall High School and studied sociology at Penn State. Career Farr began modeling lingerie at age 15. In 1955, she told a wire-service reporter: "I was under age and over-developed ... The agency claimed I was 19 because a state law required underage lingerie models to be chaperoned". She appeared in several modeling photo shoots and advertisements during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1955, she signed a seven-year contract with Columbia Pictures. Her earliest screen appearances date from the mid-1950s. They include three westerns directed by Delmer Daves: '' Jubal'' (1956) and '' 3:10 to Yuma'' (1957), both starring Glenn Ford, and '' The Last Wagon'' (1956), starring Richard Widmark. Farr's later film appearances include the bawdy Billy Wilder farce ''Kiss Me, Stupid'' (1964) with Dean Martin and Ray Walston ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau (; born Walter John Matthow; October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor, comedian and film director. He is best known for his film roles in '' A Face in the Crowd'' (1957), ''King Creole'' (1958) and as a coach of a hapless little league team in the baseball comedy ''The Bad News Bears'' (1976). He also starred in 10 films alongside Jack Lemmon, including ''The Odd Couple'' (1968), ''The Front Page'' (1974) and '' Grumpy Old Men'' (1993). Matthau won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the Billy Wilder film ''The Fortune Cookie'' (1966). Matthau is also known for his performances in Stanley Donen's romance ''Charade'' (1963), Gene Kelly's musical '' Hello, Dolly!'' (1969), Elaine May's screwball comedy '' A New Leaf'' (1971) and Herbert Ross' ensemble comedy ''California Suite'' (1978). He also starred in ''Plaza Suite'', ''Kotch'' (both 1971), ''Charley Varrick'' (1973), ''The Sunshine Boys'' (1975), and ''Hopscotch'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lieutenant (junior Grade)
Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), is a junior commissioned officer rank of the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps). LTJG has a US military pay grade of O-2,10 USC 5501 Navy: grades above chief warrant officer, W–5 Pay grades: assignment to; general rules and a [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
