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The Reluctant Astronaut
''The Reluctant Astronaut'' is a 1967 American comedy film produced and directed by Edward Montagne and starring Don Knotts in a story about a carnival ride operator who is hired as a janitor at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston and is eventually sent into space. Comedian Knotts had won several Emmy Awards as small-town comic sheriff's deputy Barney Fife in the 1960–1968 television sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show'' but left the show as a regular at the end of its fifth season (1964–1965) to pursue a career in feature films with Universal Pictures. ''The Reluctant Astronaut'' followed Knotts' first Universal film venture, '' The Ghost and Mr. Chicken'' (1966). Actor Paul Hartman appears in the film and would later star in ''The Andy Griffith Show''. The film's screenplay writers Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum had served as teleplay writers for the television series. Plot In the mid-1960s, Roy Fleming is fairground operator of a kiddie-spaceship ride in Sweetwater, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Montagne
Edward J. Montagne Jr. (May 20, 1912 – December 15, 2003) was a television series producer and film director who directed the films ''McHale's Navy'' (1964) starring Ernest Borgnine, its sequel ''McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force'' (1965) starring Joe Flynn and Tim Conway, ''The Reluctant Astronaut'' (1967) starring Don Knotts and ''They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way'' (1978) starring Tim Conway and Chuck McCann. He was the son of screenwriter Edward J. Montagne, In 1978, Montagne was nominated for an Primetime Emmy The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ... for Outstanding Drama Series. References External links * 1912 births 2003 deaths American television producers American film directors American film producers People from Brooklyn {{US-tv-bio-st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Hartman
Paul Hartman (March 1, 1904 – October 2, 1973) was an American dancer, stage performer and television actor. Early years Born in San Francisco, California, Hartman was the son of Ferris Hartman, who was sometimes called the "Ziegfeld of the Pacific Coast" and actress Josie Hart. He began performing as a dancer with his sister when he was 4 years old. Hartman attended the University of California. After he left there, he worked for a newspaper in San Francisco, beginning as a copy boy and later becoming a reporter. He left the newspaper for the theater because the latter offered more money. Career In 1922, he teamed up with Grace Barrett for a dancing comedy vaudeville act that consisted of them both paying homage to and gently mocking the popular dances of the day, from ballet to swing. They married in 192 Along with Grace, Paul made his Broadway debut in ''Ballyhoo of 1932'' alongside Bob Hope. They appeared in Cole Porter's ''Red Hot and Blue'' a few years later, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LC-34
Launch Complex 34 (LC-34) is a deactivated launch site on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. LC-34 and its companion LC-37 to the north were used by NASA from 1961 through 1968 to launch Saturn I and IB rockets as part of the Apollo program. It was the site of the Apollo 1 fire, which claimed the lives of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee on January 27, 1967. The first crewed Apollo launch — Apollo 7 on October 11, 1968 — was the last time LC-34 was used. History Construction Work began on LC-34 in 1960, and it was formally dedicated on June 5, 1961. The complex consisted of a launch platform, umbilical tower, mobile service tower, fueling facilities, and a blockhouse. Two steel flame deflectors were mounted on rails to allow placement beneath the launch platform. The service tower was likewise mounted on rails, and it was moved to a position 185 meters west of the pad before launch. At 95 meters high, it was the tallest structure at LC-34. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apollo 1
Apollo 1, initially designated AS-204, was intended to be the first crewed mission of the Apollo program, the American undertaking to land the first man on the Moon. It was planned to launch on February 21, 1967, as the first low Earth orbital test of the Apollo command and service module. The mission never flew; a cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 on January 27 killed all three crew members—Command Pilot Gus Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee—and destroyed the command module (CM). The name Apollo 1, chosen by the crew, was made official by NASA in their honor after the fire. Immediately after the fire, NASA convened an Accident Review Board to determine the cause of the fire, and both chambers of the United States Congress conducted their own committee inquiries to oversee NASA's investigation. The ignition source of the fire was determined to be electrical, and the fire spread rapidly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of human spaceflight. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). The management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources and operate facilities on each other's property. Though the first Apollo flights and all Project Mercury and Project Gemini flights took off from the then-Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the launches were managed by KSC and its previous organization, the Launch Operations Directorate. Starting with the fourth Gemini mission, the NASA launch contro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jesse White (actor)
Jesse White (born Jesse Marc Weidenfeld; January 3, 1917 – January 9, 1997) was an American actor, who was best known for his portrayal as "Ol' Lonely" the repairman in Maytag television commercials from 1967 to 1988.North, Gary, ''What To Learn From Maytag'', LewRockwell.com (2007) Life and career White was born in Buffalo, New York, and was raised in Akron, Ohio, to Jewish parents. He made his first amateur appearance in local stage productions at the age of fifteen. Though aspiring to be an actor, he worked at many different jobs during the 1930s, including selling beauty supplies and lingerie. After moving to Cleveland, Ohio, White began a career in vaudeville and burlesque, traveling widely before landing a role on Broadway. In 1942, White made his Broadway debut in '' The Moon is Down'', followed by a successful performance in the role of a sanitarium orderly in the popular play '' Harvey''. He would later reprise his role in the 1950 film version and the 1972 t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burt Mustin
Burton Hill "Burt" Mustin (February 8, 1884 – January 28, 1977) was an American character actor.Obituary ''Variety'', February 2, 1977, page 94. Over the course of his career, he appeared in over 150 film and television productions. He also worked in radio and appeared in stage productions. Mustin began his professional acting career at the age of 67 after director William Wyler cast him in the 1951 film noir ''Detective Story''. Known for his dependability and versatility, Mustin went on to establish a career as a well-known character actor and worked extensively in film and television from the 1950s to the 1970s. His last major role was as Arthur Lanson on the CBS sitcom ''Phyllis'', appearing on the show into early 1977, shortly before his death at almost 93 years old. Early life Mustin was born in Pittsburgh, to William I. and Sadie (Dorrington) Mustin. His father worked as a stockbroker. Mustin graduated from Pennsylvania Military College (renamed Widener Univers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert F
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honour, praise, renown" and '' berht'' "bright, light, shining"). It is the second most frequently used given name of ancient Germanic origin. It is also in use as a surname. Another commonly used form of the name is Rupert. After becoming widely used in Continental Europe it entered England in its Old French form ''Robert'', where an Old English cognate form (''Hrēodbēorht'', ''Hrodberht'', ''Hrēodbēorð'', ''Hrœdbœrð'', ''Hrœdberð'', ''Hrōðberχtŕ'') had existed before the Norman Conquest. The feminine version is Roberta. The Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish form is Roberto. Robert is also a common name in many Germanic languages, including English, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Scots, Danish, and Icelandic. It c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeanette Nolan
Jeanette Nolan (December 30, 1911 – June 5, 1998) was an American actress. Nominated for four Emmy Awards, she had roles in the television series '' The Virginian'' (1962–1971) and ''Dirty Sally'' (1974), and in films such as ''Macbeth'' (1948). Career Nolan began her prolific acting career at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California, and, while a student at Los Angeles City College, made her radio debut in 1932 in ''Omar Khayyam'', the first transcontinental broadcast from station KHJ. She continued acting into the 1990s. She appeared regularly in several radio series, including ''Young Doctor Malone'', 1939–1940; ''Cavalcade of America'', 1940–1941; Nicolette Moore in ''One Man's Family'', 1947–1950; and ''The Great Gildersleeve'', 1949–1952. She appeared episodically in many more She made her film debut as Lady Macbeth in Orson Welles' 1948 film ''Macbeth'', based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. Despite the fact that she and the film received ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank McGrath (actor)
Benjamin Franklin "Frank" McGrath (February 2, 1903 – May 13, 1967) was an American television and film actor and stunt performer who played the comical, optimistic cook with the white beard, Charlie B. Wooster, on the western series ''Wagon Train'' for five seasons on NBC and then three seasons on ABC. McGrath appeared in all 272 episodes in the eight seasons of the series, which had ended its run only two years before his death. McGrath's Wooster character hence provided the meals and companionship for both fictional trail masters, Ward Bond as Seth Adams and John McIntire as Christopher "Chris" Hale. Early life McGrath was born in Mound City in Holt County in far northwestern Missouri. Career His first role, uncredited, was in the 1932 film, ''The Rainbow Trail'', a study of Mormon polygamy based on a 1915 Zane Grey novel of the same name. In 1948 and 1949, McGrath was the US Army Bugler in two of the greatest westerns ever made, '' Fort Apache'' and ''She Wore a Yello ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur O'Connell
Arthur Joseph O'Connell (March 29, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an American stage, film and television actor, who achieved prominence in character roles in the 1950s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for both ''Picnic'' (1955) and ''Anatomy of a Murder'' (1959). Early life Arthur O'Connell was born to Julia (née Byrne) & Michael O'Connell on March 29, 1908, in Manhattan, New York. His father died when O'Connell was two; he lost his mother when he was 12. He was the youngest of four children. His siblings were William, Kathleen, and Juliette. William, the eldest, became a justice of the New York State Supreme Court and died in 1972. After his father's death, Arthur was sent to live in Flushing, New York with his mother's sister, Mrs. Charles Koetzner, while his sisters moved in with other relatives and William remained with his mother. Arthur attended St John's College for two years. His early jobs included working in the engineering department ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rocket Sled
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely from propellant carried within the vehicle; therefore a rocket can fly in the vacuum of space. Rockets work more efficiently in a vacuum and incur a loss of thrust due to the opposing pressure of the atmosphere. Multistage rockets are capable of attaining escape velocity from Earth and therefore can achieve unlimited maximum altitude. Compared with airbreathing engines, rockets are lightweight and powerful and capable of generating large accelerations. To control their flight, rockets rely on momentum, airfoils, auxiliary reaction engines, gimballed thrust, momentum wheels, deflection of the exhaust stream, propellant flow, spin, or gravity. Rockets for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th-century China. Significant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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