The Phynx
''The Phynx'' is a 1970 American comedy film directed by Lee H. Katzin about a rock and roll band named The Phynx and their mission in foreign affairs. The group is sent to Albania to locate celebrity hostages taken prisoner by Communists. This turned out to be the final film appearance for several of the veteran performers in the cast, including Leo Gorcey, George Tobias and Marilyn Maxwell. History ''The Phynx'' received an extremely limited release, and has since become something of an obscure, rarely seen cult film; bootleg copies for many years turned up on auction websites before Warner Archive officially released the film on DVD in October 2012. Plot Cast *The Phynx... Themselves **A. "Michael" Miller **Ray Chippeway **Dennis Larden **Lonny Stevens *Lou Antonio... Corrigan *Mike Kellin... Bogey *Michael Ansara... Col. Rostinov *George Tobias... Markevitch *Joan Blondell... Ruby *Martha Raye... Foxy *Larry Hankin... Philbaby * Pat McCormick... Father O'Hoolihan *Ultra V ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bob Booker (writer)
Bob Booker (born August 1, 1931) is an American writer and producer of television shows and record albums. He is best known for producing the 1962 album '' The First Family'' with Earle Doud. The album is a parody of President John F. Kennedy and his family, and it both remained at #1 on the Billboard 200 for 12 weeks and won a Grammy for Best Album of the Year in 1963. Early career Booker was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and graduated from high school at age of 16. He was first employed as a local radio DJ. A new television station began operation and Booker was hired at the age of 18, where he worked as a TV host, news anchor, weatherman, camera operator, set builder, film editor, program producer and director. He was later drafted into the army during the Korean conflict The Korean conflict is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, ongoing conflict based on the division of Korea between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and South Korea (Republic of Kore ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cult Film
A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated viewings, dialogue-quoting, and audience participation. Inclusive definitions allow for major studio productions, especially box-office bombs, while exclusive definitions focus more on obscure, transgressive films shunned by the mainstream. The difficulty in defining the term and subjectivity of what qualifies as a cult film mirror classificatory disputes about art. The term ''cult film'' itself was first used in the 1970s to describe the culture that surrounded underground films and midnight movies, though ''cult'' was in common use in film analysis for decades prior to that. Cult films trace their origin back to controversial and suppressed films kept alive by dedicated fans. In some cases, reclaimed or rediscovered films ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the Swing music, swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January 3, 1916 – October 21, 1995), and mezzo-soprano Patricia "Patty" Marie Andrews (February 16, 1918 – January 30, 2013). The sisters have sold an estimated 80 million records. Their 1941 hit "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" can be considered an early example of jump blues. Other songs closely associated with the Andrews Sisters include their first major hit, "Bei Mir Bistu Shein, Bei Mir Bist Du Schön (Means That You're Grand)" (1937), "Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out the Barrel)" (1939), "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" (1940), "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else but Me)" (1942), and "Rum and Coca Cola" (1945), which helped introduce American audiences to calypso music, calypso. The Andrews Sisters' harmonies and songs a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sally Struthers
Sally Anne Struthers (born July 28, 1947) is an American actress and activist. She played Gloria Stivic, the daughter of Archie and Edith Bunker (played by Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton) on ''All in the Family'', for which she won two Emmy awards, and Babette on ''Gilmore Girls''. She was also the voice of Charlene Sinclair on the ABC sitcom ''Dinosaurs'' and Rebecca Cunningham on the Disney animated series ''TaleSpin''. Early life Sally Anne Struthers was born July 28, 1947, in Portland, Oregon, the second of two daughters born to Margaret Caroline (née Jernes) and Robert Alden Struthers, a surgeon. She has an older sister, Sue. Her maternal grandparents were Norwegian immigrants. Her father abandoned the family when Struthers was approximately nine years old, after which she was raised by her single mother in the Concordia neighborhood of northeast Portland. Her mother, who supported herself and her two daughters working at Bonneville Power Administration, suffered fr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Susan Bernard
Susan Lynn Bernard (February 11, 1948 – June 21, 2019) was an American author, actress, model and businesswoman from Los Angeles, California. She was the daughter of photographer Bruno Bernard. Career Susan Bernard was the author of six books, including ''Marilyn: Intimate Exposures'', ''Bernard of Hollywood's Ultimate Pin-Up Book'' and ''Joyous Motherhood''. She was the president of Bernard of Hollywood/Renaissance Road Incorporated. Bernard starred in the Russ Meyer film ''Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'' in 1965, and in two seasons of ''General Hospital'' in the late 1960s. She appeared in ''Playboy'' in December 1966, and was believed to be the first Jewish Playmate of the month, though in recent years Cindy Fuller, Miss May 1959, has claimed that she was the first Jewish Playmate. In an interview in the August 1998 issue of '' Femme Fatales'', Bernard revealed, "I was the first under-18 Jewish virgin who was in the centerfold placed in front of a Christmas tree," and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rich Little
Richard Caruthers Little (born November 26, 1938) is a Canadian-American Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist and voice actor. Sometimes known as the "Man of a Thousand Voices", Little has recorded nine comedy albums and made numerous television appearances, including three HBO specials. Early life Little was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the middle of three sons. His father, Lawrence Peniston Little, was a surgeon who served as a lieutenant commander in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve during World War II and then worked for the Veterans Affairs Canada, Department of Veterans’ Affairs until his death in 1959. His mother, Elizabeth Maud (née Wilson), was a housewife. A third-generation Canadian, he is descended from English people, English stock on his father's side and Irish people, Irish on his mother's. On his mother's side, he is descended from John Willson, who was Speaker (politics), Speaker of the 5th Parliament of Upper Canada in the 1820s. His pate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Isabelle Collin Dufresne
Isabelle Collin Dufresne (6 September 1935 – 14 June 2014), known professionally as Ultra Violet, was a French-American artist, author, and both a colleague of Andy Warhol and one of his so-called Superstars. Earlier in her career, she worked for and studied with surrealist artist Salvador Dalí. Dufresne lived and worked in New York City, and also had a studio in Nice, France. Early life Isabelle Collin Dufresne was brought up in a strict religious upper-middle-class family, but she rebelled at an early age. She was instructed at a Catholic school, and then a reform school. In 1953, she received a BA in Art at ''Le Sacré Cœur'' in Grenoble, France. She soon left France to live with an older sister in New York City. Salvador Dalí and New York City In 1954, after a meeting with Salvador Dalí, she became his "muse", pupil, studio assistant, and lover in both Port Lligat, Spain, and in New York City. Later, she would recall, "I realized that I was 'surreal', which I ne ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pat McCormick (comic)
Pat McCormick (June 30, 1927 – July 29, 2005) was an American actor and comedy writer known for playing Big Enos Burdette in ''Smokey and the Bandit'' and its two sequels. He wrote for a number of performers such as Red Skelton, Phyllis Diller and Johnny Carson as well as for shows including ''Get Smart''. McCormick had a distinctive appearance being 6'7" tall, weighing 250 lbs and having a walrus mustache. Early life McCormick was born in Lakewood, Ohio on June 30, 1927. He was a 1945 graduate of Rocky River High School. Career McCormick was a high school athlete and served in the United States Army during World War II. He then enrolled at Harvard University as a freshman in the autumn of 1947 where he played basketball that year. He later dropped basketball to concentrate on track (hurdles). He dropped out of Harvard Law School for a career in advertising, but abandoned that career as well when he started writing jokes for television and standup comedians, including Jonathan ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Larry Hankin
Larry Hankin (born ) is an American character actor, performer, director, comedian and producer. He is known for his major film roles as Charley Butts in '' Escape from Alcatraz'' (1979), Ace in '' Running Scared'' (1986), and Carl Alphonse in ''Billy Madison'' (1995). He had smaller roles as Doobie in ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'', Sergeant Larry Balzak in ''Home Alone'', Mr. Heckles in ''Friends'', and Joe in ''Breaking Bad'' and '' El Camino''. Early life and career Hankin grew up in a Jewish family in Far Rockaway, Queens. He graduated from Far Rockaway High School and Syracuse University, where he befriended Carl Gottlieb. He was homeless at one point. Notable film and television roles Hankin was an early member of the Second City, training with improvisational theater legends Viola Spolin and Paul Sills, and in 1963 moved to San Francisco to co-found another influential improv troupe, The Committee. His first notable supporting role was as Pt. Romero in ''Viva Max! ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Martha Raye
Martha Raye (born Margy Reed; August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994), nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including Broadway. She was honored in 1969 at the Academy Awards as the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award recipient for her volunteer efforts and services to the troops. Early years Raye's life as a singer and comedic performer began in very early childhood. She was born at St. James Hospital in Butte, Montana, as Margy Reed; despite her birth certificate showing Reed, some sources in the 1970s and 1980s gave her the surname O'Reed. Her father, Peter F. Reed Jr., was an Irish immigrant; her mother, Maybelle Hazel (Hooper) Reed, was raised in Milwaukee and Montana. Her parents were performing in a local vaudeville theatre as Reed and Hooper when their daughter was born. Two days later, her mother was performing again. Martha first appeared in their act when she was three ye ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell (born Rose Joan Bluestein; August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years. Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on a film career, establishing herself as a Pre-Code staple of Warner Bros. Pictures in wisecracking, sexy roles, appearing in more than 100 films and television productions. She was most active in film during the 1930s and early 1940s, and during that time co-starred with Glenda Farrell, a colleague and close friend, in nine films. Blondell continued acting on film and television for the rest of her life, often in small, supporting roles. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in '' The Blue Veil'' (1951). Near the end of her life, Blondell was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in '' Opening Night'' (1977). She was featured in two more films, the bl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael Ansara
Michael George Ansara (April 15, 1922 – July 31, 2013) was an American actor. He portrayed Cochise in the television series '' Broken Arrow'', Kane in the 1979–1981 series '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'', Commander Kang in ''Star Trek: The Original Series'', Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart in the NBC series ''Law of the Plainsman'', and provided the voice for Mr. Freeze in '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and several of its spin-offs. Ansara received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in the television industry, located at 6666 Hollywood Boulevard. Early life Michael George Ansara was born in a small village in the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, and his family immigrated to the United States when he was two years old. He was of Greco Lebanese descent. They lived in Lowell, Massachusetts, for a decade before moving to California. He originally wanted to be a physician, but developed a passion for becoming a performer after he began taking acting cl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |